Red Sox release prospect Brayan Bello is scheduled to make his Major League debut on Wednesday, as Katie Morrison of MassLive.com (Twitter link) reports that Bello has been told he will start the Boston game against the Rays.
Bello is the consensus choice as the best pitcher in Boston’s farming system, and his big 2022 season has put him on the radar as one of the sport’s best young arms. In the most recently updated prospect rankings, Baseball America has Bello at 44th on its list of the top 100, Fangraphs has it at 51st and MLB Pipeline has the 23-year-old right at 75th.
The Red Sox gave Bello a modest $ 28,000 bonus during the 2016 international signing period and while he pitched well enough in 2021 to win a promotion to the double A ball, he didn’t really emerge until this season. . With an effectiveness of 4.66 in 63 2/3 innings for the Portland Double-A last season, Bello returned to Portland to record an effectiveness of 1.60 in six starts and 33 2/3 blocks, which which earned him a ticket to Triple-A Worcester. The right continued to impress, offering an ERA of 2.81, a put rate of 34.45% and a walk rate of 10.05% on 51 1/3 entries with the WooSox.
Both the fast ball and Bello’s change are more pitches, and his slider doesn’t lag behind as a strong third bid. Bello’s fastball has gained approximately 5 to 6 miles of speed since 2019 and could now approach the 100 mph threshold at times, though it will normally launch in the mid-1990s. The dominance of this ball fastball has been a problem for Bello, but at best, the fastball makes his change even more effective.
As promising as it is Bello, going straight into a big Eastern AL clash to make his big league debut in July probably wouldn’t have happened if the Red Sox weren’t too short for the starting pitchers. Chris Sale, Nathan Eovaldi, Rich Hill and Garrett Whitlock are all in the 15-day IL, plus Michael Wacha is fighting a dead arm. This has left Nick Pivetta, Josh Winckowski, Connor Seabold and perhaps Kutter Crawford all lined up to start depending on who is healthy and who is returning from IL on time. (The sale is tentatively scheduled to debut in 2022 a week from today.)
Unless Boston’s injury problems continue or if Bello completely dominates in his first taste of big league action, he probably won’t make an extended stay in the Boston rotation. However, a solid performance could surely make Bello have more starts, and perhaps more time in the majors as a relief for several entries along the stretch. All of the injuries have created uncertainty within the Red Sox rotation, and with many questions still existing in the bullpen, there seems to be room for a highly acclaimed youngster to appear on the active roster.