Brayan Bello tosses two shutout innings in solid spring debut for Red Sox
BOSTON -- The Red Sox rotation is shaky enough, so news that Brayan Bello was being shut down with right forearm tightness last month brought about a whole new set of concerns.
Those concerns were relieved slightly on Sunday, when Bello returned to the mound and tossed a pair of scoreless innings in Boston's exhibition win over the Phillies in Clearwater, Florida. The 23-year-old righty faced six batters and sat them all down with relative ease, needing just 25 pitches to get through his afternoon.
Bello took the mound to start the bottom of the sixth, and got his outing going with some high heat. His first pitch was a 96.2 mph fastball to Philadelphia's Weston Wilson, whom he struck out on four pitches when Wilson swung and missed at an 86.7 mph changeup. Bello also sat down Max McDowell, who went down looking at a changeup, before getting Cody Roberts to ground out for a 1-2-3 inning.
Bello got two more groundouts to start his second inning of work, before fanning Philly pinch-hitter Pedro Martinez (not that Pedro Martinez) to end the inning. Martinez struck out on six pitches, swinging and missing at an 86 mph slider.
It was somewhat fitting, considering Bello worked with that Martinez over the offseason, who helped him bring along his changeup and sinker. Bello threw 18 of his 25 pitches for strikes on Sunday afternoon, turning in a stellar first outing of the spring.
It may be his only outing of the spring, too, as Bello is set to start the regular season on the Injured List. That is by design, to help him build up his pitch count after missing a month, while Boston's other starters get ready for Opening Day in just over a week.
Bello will likely need to pitch four more times before he can rejoin the mix in Boston, putting his arrival in the big leagues around mid-April. With uncertainty at the front of the rotation, any contribution from the back end will be imperative to Boston's success in 2023.
Bello, who enjoyed success in Double- and Triple-A last season, is confident that he can give the Red Sox some innings -- and wins -- when his turn comes every five days.
"With everything I learned last year -- added on to everything I learned with Pedro in the offseason, what I've learned in spring training -- I know there's going to be a lot more that I need to learn in the regular season too. I think it's going to be a really good year," he said on Sunday.
