Red Sox's Brayan Bello Amid Remarkable Turnaround After Rocky Start

Bello did not take long to adjust to the MLB level after being called up prematurely

Scott Neville | Sep 26, 2022

Red Sox's Brayan Bello Amid Remarkable Turnaround After Rocky Start /

In this story:

Boston Red Sox

The Boston Red Sox appear to have hit on the best home-grown pitching talent they've produced in years, maybe decades.

After Sunday night's 2-0 loss to the New York Yankees in a shortened six-inning affair due to poor playing conditions, Bello has tossed 53 1/3 innings at the major league level. He's posted a 2-7 record with a 4.39 ERA and a 51-to-25 strikeout-to-walk ratio.

However, the 23-year-old took an interesting route to accumulating those stats and is trending in the right direction. Bello posted a 7.27 ERA in his first 26 innings of work in Boston. Since then, the right-hander holds a 1.65 ERA in 27 1/3 innings, as pointed out by Red Sox senior manager of media relations and baseball information J.P. Long.

His early season struggles were largely impacted by poor defense and a series of well-placed, softly-hit singles, leading to an extremely encouraging 2.97 FIP on the season. Still, it's clear that Bello has taken the next step in his development, one that probably should have occurred with Triple-A Worcester.

The former top pitching prospect in the Red Sox system only was given seven starts at Double-A Portland and 11 appearances with the WooSox before being elevated to the big leagues. He was called up out of necessity due to the Red Sox's pitching staff being littered with injuries all season long.

Hall of Fame pitcher Pedro Martinez explained how it was a shame Bello had to endure growing pains in his first few starts due to somewhat unfair circumstances, but also called Bello a "Cy Young type of pitcher" who reminded him of himself.

It's clear that Bello is starting to find his way in the big leagues and could become a massive piece of the 2023 rotation.

More MLB: Trevor Story Calling For Red Sox To Sign Xander Bogaerts To New Deal

Published Sep 26, 2022

SCOTT NEVILLE

Scott Neville covers the Boston Red Sox for Sports Illustrated's new page "Inside The Red Sox." Before starting "Inside The Red Sox", Neville attended Merrimack College, where he earned his Bachelor’s Degree in Communication and Media with a minor in Marketing. Neville spent all four years with Merrimack's radio station WMCK, where he grew as a radio/podcast host and producer. His propensity for being in front of a microphone eventually expanded to film, where he produced multiple short films alongside his then-roommate and current co-worker Stephen Mottram. On a journey that began as a way to receive easy credits via film classes, he received a call from "It's Always Sunny In Philadelphia" star Charlie Day. Day advised him to make a feature-length film, which he completed his senior year. While writing the film, Neville completed an internship for United Way as part of their NFL Partnership Program. Neville ran the blog for a team of interns and hosted an internet show called "United Way's NFL Partnership Series" where he interviewed NFL alumni. After college Neville wrote for SB Nation's "Over The Monster," a Red Sox sister site of the flagship brand. His work would eventually lead him to a job as a content producer with NESN, where he would cover all sports. After developing as a writer with the top regional network in the world, he was given the opportunity to join the Sports Illustrated Media Group in his current endeavor as the publisher of "Inside The Red Sox." The successful launch and quick rise of "Inside The Red Sox" led to Neville joining the Baseball Essential ownership group, a national baseball site under SIMG. Follow him on Twitter: @ScottNeville46 Email: nevilles@merrimack.edu