The Red Sox found a surprising solution to their overcrowded starting rotation:
Optioning Brayan Bello back to Triple-A Worcester.
After briefly expanding to a six-man rotation, the club announced the move on Monday afternoon. It comes just days after manager Alex Cora confirmed that Tanner Houck would still be in the rotation this week; he’s in line for Wednesday’s series finale in Baltimore, after pitching a career-high seven innings in his last start.
However, this is a short-term solution to a larger, long-term roster problem. The Red Sox see Bello as a key part of their future, so he won’t stay in Triple-A forever, and James Paxton is scheduled for his next rehab games on Tuesday and Sunday. At some point in the near future, the rotation will be overcrowded again.
After a mild forearm concern briefly halted his spring training, Bello began the regular season on the injured list. The 23-year-old righty only made two starts before the roster move: Marathon Monday at Fenway, and Sunday in Milwaukee. Over 7 1/3 innings between the two, he allowed eight earned runs on 13 hits, walked three, struck out eight, and hit a batter.
“Of course, I’m disappointed,” he told Alex Speier of the Boston Globe, but said he knows he’s a big-leaguer and is going to prove it.
Bello made his major league debut on July 6, 2022. After striking out 24, issuing 15 walks, and giving up 21 earned runs (7.27 ERA) over his first seven games (26 innings), he struck out 31, walked 12, and only allowed nine earned runs (2.59 ERA) in his remaining six (31 1/3 innings). He didn’t give up a single home run in his first eight big-league starts, something no Red Sox rookie had done since Earl Wilson in 1959.
The young righty is still with the team for now (the Red Sox are in Baltimore for a three-game set), but his roster spot will go to Brennan Bernardino, a newcomer in the organization.
A 31-year-old left-handed reliever, Bernardino was the Cincinnati Reds’ 26th-round pick in the 2014 draft, and spent nearly a decade bouncing around the minors before finally making it to the majors with the Mariners on July 31 of last year. Over two appearances totaling 2 1/3 innings, he faced 13 batters and allowed one earned and two unearned runs, three hits, two walks, and zero strikeouts.
Bernardino spent the bulk of the 2022 season with Triple-A Tacoma, making 23 relief appearances and posting a 2.20 ERA, with 35 strikeouts in 32 2/3 innings. The Red Sox claimed him off waivers earlier this month, after he was designated for assignment by Seattle. Since joining the organization, he’s made one perfect two-inning relief appearance with Triple-A Worcester. He’ll be the second southpaw in the Sox bullpen; Richard Bleier has been holding down the fort solo, as Chris Martin is on the 15-day injured list with right shoulder inflammation.
Pedro Martinez thinks Bello is the kind of pitcher who can win a Cy Young or two someday. So much so that he invited the young righty to his home in their native Dominican Republic this offseason, and worked with him personally.
“I wish, I WISH I had the talent that Brayan Bello has, when I was coming up. He’s way more talented than I am,” the Hall of Famer told the Herald during spring training.
For now, Bello will have to prove that in the minors.