Red Sox to Alter Rehab Plan For Brayan Bello

The Boston Red Sox are changing up the rehab plan for injured starting pitcher Brayan Bello. He'll now make a rehab start down in Florida versus up north, where weather is scheduled to be iffy. James Paxton will join him in Florida, per reports.

The Boston Red Sox are reportedly changing the rehab plan for starting pitcher Brayan Bello. He's been on the injured list at the start of the season as he works through an elbow issue that he suffered at the beginning of spring training. 

Bello was scheduled to make a rehab start with one of the Red Sox northern affiliates but due to bad weather, he's being sent to Florida.

Gabrielle Starr of the Boston Herald reports that both he and James Paxton are being sent to Fort Myers.

James Paxton and Brayan Bello are going back down to Fort Myers to do their rehab work.

Better weather/conditions than Buffalo (Triple-A road series) or Portland.

— Gabrielle Starr (@gfstarr1) April 3, 2023

Starr didn't have an exact date on the rehab start, but Bello was scheduled to start up north on Wednesday, so maybe his Florida start will come on that date as well.

There could be a change in Brayan Bello’s first rehab outing due to inclement weather, per source. He is expected to pitch in Buffalo on Wednesday 4/5 as of now.

— Chris Henrique (@ChrisHenrique) April 2, 2023

Bello's health and development are of the utmost importance to the Red Sox this season. First off, the Red Sox rotation is full of aging pitchers with health question marks, so they can ill-afford to have yet another pitcher injured, especially a young one. Paxton is already on the injured list, while veterans Chris Sale and Corey Kluber come with significant injury histories. 

Furthermore, Bello is the top major-league ready pitching prospect that the Red Sox have. He made 13 appearances in 2022 as he made his debut, going 2-8 with a 4.71 ERA, but his ability to dial up velocity, mixed with a good changeup, have Sox people excited for his future.

He worked with Pedro Martinez this offseason as well on his changeup, so when he gets back to the majors, he should be fun to watch all season.

The Red Sox are currently going with Kluber, Sale, Tanner Houck, Kutter Crawford and Nick Pivetta in the rotation.

The Red Sox opened up a series with the Pirates on Monday.