Red Sox’ Brayan Bello ‘happy’ — and thriving — in unusual, unconventional new role

· Yahoo Sports

LOS ANGELES — Brayan Bello has spent his entire professional life on a five-day routine. That was the case in each of the last three seasons, in which he made at least 28 starts for the Red Sox, and even in a tough first three months of this season despite sometimes pitching behind an opener.

The past few weeks, though, have brought something new for Bello: long layoffs and randomly placed outings along the way. After making his fourth start at Triple-A Worcester on July 1, he was held out of pitching until July 12, when he returned to the majors with a 4 ⅓ inning relief outing at Citi Field. Ten days later, he relieved Eduardo Rivera at Fenway and gave the Red Sox a 5 ⅓ inning appearance in a loss to Baltimore. On Friday — after a nine-day layoff — he returned to the mound again and pitched the final four innings of a 9-4 win over the Dodgers.

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It’s not a conventional role for a former rotation stalwart who signed a $55 million extension two years ago and just last fall started Game 2 of a playoff series at Yankee Stadium. But it’s one that has worked for Bello, who owns a 0.66 ERA in 13 ⅔ innings since returning to the big leagues, allowing one earned run on nine hits in that span while posting a 13-to-2 strikeout-to-walk ratio.

“He’s thrown great in the outings he’s had since he has been back,” said interim manager Chad Tracy.

After yet another disastrous first inning on June 4 against the Orioles, the Red Sox sent Bello (and his 6.34 ERA) to the minors for an optional assignment that would have been unthinkable during a breakout 2025 season. The goal was to get him in a rhythm and work on getting right away from the pressure of the major leagues.

From June 13 to July 1, Bello pitched every six days (once a series) for the WooSox and made incremental strides despite a relatively uninspiring stat line (4.34 ERA). When the Red Sox needed a starter during the weekend before the All-Star break because Ranger Suarez went on the injured list with a groin strain, they summoned rookie Eduardo Rivera, and not Bello, to start against the Mets. The next day, Bello came back up to the majors to relieve rookie Payton Tolle in a planned shortened start. He is not part of a rotation that includes Sonny Gray, Suarez, Tolle, Jake Bennett and Patrick Sandoval and could welcome the likes of Garrett Crochet, Tanner Houck or Johan Oviedo back this season. Instead, he’s serving the role of a floating insurance policy, seemingly always available if things line up.

“I think (it’s) a pretty big adjustment and he seems to be doing pretty well with it,” Tracy said.

In the final days before he was demoted to Worcester in June, Bello made it clear that he was displeased with his performance — and questions over why he struggled so much as a starter (10.35 ERA) while pitching well in bulk relief outings. He was not happy when he was demoted, but sources who were with him in Worcester say the pouting did not last long. Within 48 hours of his demotion, one teammate said, Bello stopped pouting and decided it was time to get to work. He had no interest in speaking to a group of reporters who went to Polar Park to speak to him in late June but felt good about the strides he was making away from the major leagues. After tossing four scoreless innings in Friday’s victory, Bello made it clear that he was happy with any role — however unconventional — as long as it kept him in the big leagues.

“Every time I go out there, I try to do my job,” Bello said, through interpreter Carlos Villoria Benítez. “I feel very good with the opportunity the team has given me.

“If that’s the opportunity the team is giving me, I’m happy with it,” Bello added. “If that means the team is going to get into the playoffs and even the World Series, I’m happy to be in this role. I’m gonna do whatever it takes to help the team win.”

Unlike his last outing, in which he entered with the Red Sox down four runs after a first-inning implosion from Rivera, Bello entered Friday’s game at Dodger Stadium with the result in the balance. An inning after Shohei Ohtani brought Los Angeles all the way back from a 3-0 deficit with a two-run homer off Jovani Morán that gave the Dodgers a 4-3 lead, Bello relieved Moran after he allowed a leadoff single to Freddie Freeman and immediately got himself in trouble by allowing another base hit to Mookie Betts. After two quick outs, the Sox decided to intentionally walk pinch-hitter Max Muncy so Bello could face No. 9 hitter Eliezer Alfonzo with the bases loaded. Only one of Bello’s pitches against the catcher found the strike zone but a free-swinging Alfonzo chased two pitches, then grounded out to end the inning on a 3-2 sinker outside the zone.

After the Sox rallied for five runs to go up 8-4 in the seventh, Bello pitched a 1-2-3 frame. He gave up two singles in the eighth but got Muncy to ground out to avoid any damage in that inning. None of Bello’s four baserunners scored.

“Brayan threw the ball great,” Tracy said. “Pitched out of a couple spots where he had people on to keep them off the board. In so doing, got our guys some more rest they needed. He was fantastic.”

Bello, who nibbled too much early in the season and seemed to never have his command early in outings, threw 39 of his 58 pitches (67%) for strikes.

“He’s just in the zone constantly right now,” Tracy said.

After playing four consecutive games against the Athletics that were decided by either one or two runs, Tracy came to Chavez Ravine without closer Aroldis Chapman, setup man Garrett Whitlock and others likely unavailable to pitch. After lifting Suarez at 65 pitches with two outs in the fifth, the manager hoped most of the rest of the game would belong to Bello. That hope became a reality once the Red Sox mounted a big lead.

“(He was) huge,” Tracy said. “Obviously, our bullpen is heavily used and a little beat up right now. When you win that many games over a period of time, those guys have been used a lot.”

Bello said he has made no mechanical changes since his demotion but added that he has added confidence now that he has honed in on attacking the strike zone more often. Just being back in the big leagues after a month-long sabbatical, Bello said, has brought him joy. Pitching sporadically isn’t ideal, but it’s better than riding a bus to Scranton, Rochester and other Triple-A cities. And the best part? Bello’s four-seam fastball and sinker continue to tick up in terms of velocity.

“With seven days in between outings right now, I’m throwing 96-97 (mph),” Bello said, smiling. “I feel very good right now.”

With their injured starters a ways away from returning and Connelly Early no longer in the picture after being traded to Washington last weekend, Bello currently profiles as Boston’s first line of defense if someone in the rotation is injured. For now, his role is a strange — and unpredictable — one. But as the Sox hit the home stretch and try to protect young arms like Tolle and Bennett by limiting their innings, expect Bello to factor into the mix in a more prominent role, somehow.

“We’ll talk about that,” Tracy said. “Obviously, we’ve talked a lot about the young starters being in just a five-man rotation. After the off day, we’ve got 16 games in a row. Once we get past that off day and the (trade) deadline, you start looking at where we get creative with things. Not a guarantee, but we’ve talked about it for sure.”

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