Brayan Bello is widely considered Boston’s most promising young pitcher, and the 23-year-old righty has been called a future Cy Young candidate by none other than Hall of Famer Pedro Martinez.
On nights like Wednesday, you can see why.
Bello was terrific, delivering one of his best outings as a big leaguer to help lead the Red Sox to a huge 5-2 win over the Atlanta Braves.
He earned the win thanks in large part to Raimel Tapia’s go-ahead pinch hit RBI double in the top of the seventh and Triston Casas’ two-run homer in the ninth, and then relievers Josh Winckowski, Chris Martin and Kenley Jansen closed the door, with Jansen recording his 400th career save against his former team.
“That was eye-opening. It’s a testament to who he is, he was a catcher and he’s the seventh reliever to get 400 saves, and shoot, he was throwing 99 today,” Red Sox manager Alex Cora said of Jansen. “We’re very proud of him.”
At a time where every start feels like an audition ahead of the Red Sox impending rotation crunch, Bello made a compelling case for why he deserves to be part of the club’s present, not just its future.
The second-year standout allowed two runs over six innings, drew 18 whiffs while striking out five, and worked his way out of multiple jams unscathed before the Braves finally tagged him for a pair as his pitch count inched closer to 100.
All four of Bello’s pitches were working. His sinker and four-seam fastball both topped 97 mph, and his changeup and slider were both devastating, drawing whiffs on half of each Bello threw.
“The stuff was really good, velocity was up, changeup was playing, the slider was good, and that’s a great lineup,” Cora said. “With all due respect to everybody in the National League, I think that’s the best team in the National League, from top to bottom they’re relentless.”
The one real blemish on Bello’s outing came at the start of the sixth, when Braves superstar Ronald Acuña Jr. crushed a 470-foot solo home run to deep left field, one of the longest balls hit in the majors this year. Bello bounced back by forcing the dangerous Matt Olson to ground out, but Austin Riley would later single and come around to tie the game 2-2 on an RBI single by Eddie Rosario.
As they so often have this season, the Red Sox had a response.
After initially taking a 2-0 lead on RBI singles by Kiké Hernández and Jarren Duran in the fourth, Boston rallied to retake the lead in the top of the seventh when Duran and Casas both walked and Tapia ripped a line drive into the right field corner to make it 3-2.
Then, in the top of the ninth, Duran started the inning with an aggressive leadoff double and Casas followed suit with a titanic 442-foot two-run blast to right, a no doubter to give Jansen a little extra breathing room.
Not that he needed it.
Though Rosario gave the Braves a chance by doubling down the line, Jansen got Sean Murphy and Ozzie Albies to fly out to center and then struck out Travis d’Arnaud to lock down the historic save, cranking it up to 99 mph in the process.
Speaking to NESN’s Tom Caron after the game, Jansen was at a loss for words.
“My body is shaking right now, it’s crazy,” Jansen said. “I never thought I could do this, I never thought my dream would be as a pitcher in the big leagues, I always thought I wanted to make it as a catcher and golly, great choice.”
In addition to Tapia, Duran and Casas’ big days at the plate, Justin Turner also had another great showing, reacquainting himself at third base with a couple of terrific defensive plays while also going 1 for 2 with a pair of walks. Winckowski pitched a perfect seventh and Martin continued his impressive return from injury by striking out three in a scoreless eighth.
With the win Boston splits the two-game series in Atlanta and heads into the Thursday off-day third in the AL East at 22-16.
The Red Sox made it official Wednesday, activating left-hander James Paxton from the 15-day injured list ahead of his season debut on Friday against the St. Louis Cardinals.
To clear space on the roster the Red Sox also designated right-hander Zack Littell for assignment.
Littell was acquired from the Texas Rangers earlier this month and made two appearances for Boston, allowing three runs over 3.0 innings with three walks and two strikeouts. The move will set the Red Sox up with a six-man rotation and seven men in the bullpen, and it also opens a spot on the 40-man roster.
The Red Sox should see a number of other moves in the coming days as well. Lefty Joely Rodriguez (right oblique strain) pitched a scoreless inning for the Portland Sea Dogs on Wednesday, the second of back-to-back rehab outings. That was considered the last step before his potential activation, so there’s a good bet he’ll rejoin the Red Sox bullpen soon.
Righty Garrett Whitlock (right elbow ulnar neuritis) is also scheduled to throw a simulated game at Fenway Park on Thursday and make a rehab start next Tuesday. His next start after that would be lined up for Sunday, May 21, and if all goes well he could potentially take the mound that day for the Red Sox in San Diego.
One disappointing development Wednesday was pitching prospect Bryan Mata being placed on the seven-day injured list. The WooSox announced Mata is dealing with right shoulder inflammation, though Cora told reporters the righty also has a lat issue, though they hope the problem isn’t serious and that he’s able to return soon.
Mata is Boston’s top pitching prospect, according to MLB Pipeline (No. 6 in the system overall), and entering the year was considered a midseason call-up candidate. Mata’s fastball touches 100 mph, but so far this season he’s posted a 5.61 ERA at Triple-A and has allowed 27 walks over 25.2 innings.