It's Time to Give Brayan Bello His Flowers

Earlier this season, Brayan Bello looked lost. He started the season with two wins in April, striking out seven between starts. He allowed four earned runs while walking six and striking out seven. Things took a very sudden downturn for him two starts later, though. In the month of May, Bello had six starts going 0-1 and only getting out of the fourth inning once. During May, he gave up 13 earned runs, three homers, 16 walks, and 22 strikeouts. There was talk of if he needed to be sent down to Triple-A to try and reset while building his workload up so he could go deeper into games. Even as the biggest Bello fan you’ll meet, I was starting to wonder if he could ever reach the ceiling that had been bestowed upon him by Hall of Famer Pedro Martinez two short years ago. 

Then, the calendar flipped to June and we suddenly saw a brand new pitcher. Bello entered June after posting a 4.03 ERA the month before. In June, Bello had five starts and still tallied more losses than wins, a 1-2 record, but suddenly he was going deeper into games while his strikeout numbers ticked up and his walk numbers plummeted. That month, his lone win came on Father’s Day against the Yankees when he hurled a masterclass over seven innings; Bello walked only 10 while striking out 23. His WHIP fell from 1.69 to start the month to 1.44 at the end.

What’s most impressive, though, is he took this giant step forward against teams in the playoff hunt. He shone against the Rays, Yankees, and Giants. He kept his head afloat against the Angels while the team was underperforming all around him. He somehow turned in a quality start against the Blue Jays after being lit up to begin the game to close the month. Don’t put too much stock in his June win/loss record—it’s far more on the offense’s ability to not produce runs than Bello giving up no more than three earned throughout the month. Bello posted a 2.87 ERA in June, bringing his season-long ERA to 3.41. Even if the offense failed to pick him up most of June, you could see that he had figured something out and it was working well for him.

Now in July, Bello is shining even brighter. Against the Reds he only went five innings, but he gave up one hit and one earned run. His strikeouts dipped to three, but he walked only one in that game. Unless you weren’t paying attention, Bello’s second outing in July should serve as his coming out party. On July 8 against the Rockies, Bello threw his first complete game. He was tagged for a two-run home run in the top of the ninth by Hunter Goodman on a cutter that just didn’t cut. We all had hoped that he would toss a complete game shutout, but even after surrendering the home run, Bello didn’t look shaken. He toed the rubber and went after the next hitters. Before that, Bello looked every bit of a playoff-caliber starter you would want him to be. He notched 10 strikeouts against only one walk. In the second, he struck out the side and posted five of his 10 strikeouts in the first two innings. This was by far the most aggressive start we’ve ever seen from Bello and if he continues pitching with that type of attitude, the top of the rotation will look solid for years to come.

Brayan Bello had a ton of pressure placed on his shoulders before the 2024 season when he signed an extension and was the Opening Day starter. He’s admitted that he thinks that pressure caused him to slip and stumble multiple times throughout the season. This year, though, Bello seems to have found his footing and firmly entrenched himself as the No. 2 option in the rotation behind Garrett Crochet. There’s been a lot of talk about the front office wanting to bring in another top-tier starter to help bolster the rotation at the deadline, and it’s needed, but bringing in someone of that caliber serves to take even more pressure off of Bello, which should allow him to find an even higher gear to operate in. He may never be the true No. 1 starter that the team envisioned him to be in 2024 but if he’s pitching like this out of the third spot in the rotation, the Red Sox are going to be in a very good place as we start looking toward the postseason.