After a brief, but worrisome shutdown for forearm soreness delayed his preseason, Brayan Bello made his Grapefruit League debut in Clearwater on Sunday.
Bello entered the game in the sixth inning of what turned out to be a 9-5 victory over the Phillies at their Florida home, BayCare Ballpark, and pitched two perfect innings.
From his first pitch, which clocked in at 96.2 mph, the 23-year-old righty made it look easy. He faced the minimum and only needed 25 pitches (18 for strikes) to get through two frames. He struck out three and got the other three batters to ground out.
“He acts like he belongs here,” Alex Cora told reporters. Bello said he feels excellent.
Bello debuted on July 6 of last year and appeared in 13 games, including 11 starts, for the big-league club. After getting off to a bumpy start, the rookie was dominant down the stretch; over five starts in September, he posted a 1.65 ERA and struck out 27 batters in 27 1/3 innings. He then spent the offseason working with Hall of Famer Pedro Martinez.
Though Bello will begin the season on the injured list, it will be so that he can continue ramping up in the minor leagues. If he stays on schedule, he’ll be able to join the rotation in mid-April.
Joely Rodriguez is going to have imaging done on Monday, Alex Cora told reporters on Sunday, but the expectation is that he’ll need to start the season on the injured list.
Rodriguez, one of only two lefties currently in the Red Sox bullpen, left Saturday’s game with what the club described as right torso pain.
Cora named Oddanier Mosqueda and Ryan Sherriff as two non-roster options who could sub in, though Mosqueda hasn’t pitched above Double-A.
Sherriff debuted in 2017, and has a career 3.65 ERA across 44 regular-season appearances (44 1/3 innings). He spent last year with Phillies’ minor league teams, but pitched for the Rays in 2020-21, and posted a 3.33 ERA, 3.55 FIP, and 1.274 WHIP over 26 appearances, and didn’t give up a home run over that span. He also pitched two no-hit innings for the Rays in the 2020 World Series.
Though Nick Pivetta told Alex Speier of the Boston Globe that he “feels very good about his arm strength,” that self-assessment came on the heels of another rough outing.
The 30-year-old righty started against his former team on Sunday, and allowed four earned run on four hits (including a pair of homers), walked two, and struck out five. Only 50 of his 84 pitches were for strikes, or approximately 59.5%.
In three prior spring starts, Pivetta allowed six earned runs on 12 hits, walked five, and struck out 11.
The Red Sox and Royals completed the Adalberto Mondesí/Josh Taylor trade on Sunday, with Kansas City sending minor leaguer Ángel Pierre to Boston as the Player To Be Named Later.
The 19-year-old infielder, listed as a third baseman in MLB transactions, signed with the Royals last June. His professional career amounts to 33 games in Dominican Summer League, where he went 30-for-100 with 11 doubles, four triples, two home runs, 23 runs scored, and 19 RBI. He struck out 31 times, drew 21 walks, and stole nine bases in 14 attempts.