FORT MYERS, Fla. – In many ways 2024 was a career year for Brayan Bello. He made his first Opening Day start, and finished the season with 30 starts.
Yet last season was also a turbulent, stress-filled ride for the Red Sox right-hander, and he’s eager to put it behind him.
“I feel just as happy as I’ve always been,” Bello said (via translator) during his first media availability on Wednesday. “But definitely coming into this year having a lot less pressure. Last year, a lot of blessings happening, a lot of beautiful things, but (it) came with some pressure. So now I just feel really relaxed and ready to go.”
Chief among those blessings was the six-year, $55 million extension he signed last March. But it quickly began to weigh on him and grew heavier as he struggled throughout the first half (opposing batters hit .277 with a .796 OPS against him before the All-Star break). He showed significant improvement down the stretch, limiting lineups to a .219 average and .629 OPS in his 13 starts of the second half.
“I definitely felt the pressure early on, especially in the first half, just wanting to live up to the contract,” Bello said. “Second half, a bunch of folks here spoke with me and told me to just take it easy, just play my game, and things went really well.”
This preseason is already off to a less-stressful start for Bello, because the Red Sox have added more elite arms to the rotation. They acquired All-Star left-hander Garrett Crochet from the White Sox in December, then signed longtime Dodgers righty Walker Buehler, fresh off his latest of several stellar postseason performances. Lucas Giolito is trending toward being ready for the Opening Day roster.
“I like where we’re at,” he said, explaining that the revamped rotation facilitates a more welcome form of pressure. “I think we have a bunch of great pitchers, I think it creates a lot of competition, and I think that’s where I thrive.”
Health-dependent, this season could be more restful for Sox starters. The team is strongly considering going with a six-man rotation for at least some of the toughest stretches of the schedule. In ‘24, however, Bello’s numbers were better on the traditional four days of rest; in 15 starts on four days of rest, he held opponents to a .230 average and .666 OPS. In 10 five-day starts, lineups took him at .305, with a .869 OPS. (There were also five starts on six or more days’ rest, when batters hit .223 with a .625 OPS against him, but in more than one instance, his struggles were the driving force in the Red Sox delaying his outings.)
“The biggest thing I learned is just to not let negativity linger start-to-start,” Bello said. “
The Red Sox need Bello to turn that lesson into meaningful action, or lack thereof. On more than one occasion last year, he lost his composure on the mound, such as his June 8 road start against the White Sox, when he gave up a go-ahead grand slam to Gavin Sheets, then slammed his glove onto the mound. Bello is also one of many Red Sox players whose in-game frustrations will be chronicled in the upcoming Netflix docuseries on their ‘24 season. In one preview clip, he leaves the dugout after his half-inning and furiously self-flagellates while his teammates bat.
“Definitely want to get better at that,” Bello said. “Not letting the start snowball when things go wrong.”
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