Red Sox Pitching Success Hinges on Brayan Bello
Brayan Bello's first half was one to forget, but he showed enough flashes to make him an intriguing and important piece of Boston's pitching staff in the second half.
Jettisoned from the roster in the first half, 27-year-old right-hander Brayan Bello might the Boston Red Sox’s most important arm in the second half.
Through 13 MLB appearances this season, Bello has a 6.06 ERA and 0.0 fWAR across 65.1 innings. Though he saw lots of success as a bulk reliever, his numbers as starter effectively sunk his 2026. In fact, it got so bad that the former top prospect spent five weeks with Triple-A Worcester.
It’s easy to forget the talent his right arm possesses. Long gone are the days of the “Baby Pedro (Martinez)” nickname he received as a prospect. However, just last year he posted a 3.35 ERA, including a 3.15 mark across his final 22 appearances.
What’s held Bello back from being great before, in large part, is his lack of strikeout stuff. His final year of prospect status, he racked up the strikeouts. In 58.2 innings in Triple-A back in 2022, he struck out 33.8% of batters with a 62.0% ground-ball rate. As a big leaguer, his career-high punchout rate is 21.8% back in 2024.
As out of favor as he’s fallen, he’s positioned to be something of an unsung hero should Boston make it to October for its second consecutive season.
But why is that the case? Let’s break it down.
Managing Workloads
Though unpopular, it’s no secret that teams manage the workloads of its starting pitchers in this day and age. That’s independent of a pitcher’s standing in the league, but it’s even more prevalent in young arms.
We saw a glimpse of that in the Red Sox’s unofficial first-half finale against the New York Mets. Left-handed flamethrower Payton Tolle had a short start “by design” to manage his workload. Though nobody quite knew how short that start was going to be, he only got two outs in the fourth inning before his departure. His final line was impressive, but it was a short one nonetheless.
In came Bello with two outs and a runner aboard in the fourth inning. As someone who’s struggled in the first inning of his outings all season — primarily as a starter — that could’ve been a disaster. However, he struck out Mets backstop Luis Torrens on four pitches.
Overall, he went 4.1 innings with four strikeouts, zero walks, and only one earned run on just two hits. We even saw his changeup top out at 91 mph for a strikeout of center fielder A.J. Ewing.
Piggybacking the right-hander to manage workloads in the second half makes a ton of sense. Tolle’s career high for innings in a season is 108, which he did last season. This year, he’s already at 99.
Fellow young left-hander Jake Bennett, though spectacular in the first half, has already set a new career high for innings as a professional with 87.
Patrick Sandoval just made his first MLB start in two years and likely remains a five-and-dive guy even in his longest outings. That’s in an effort to build him back up and just keep him healthy overall.
Remember, Bello Is an Established Big Leaguer
Again, it’s easy to forget how good Bello can be. Last year looks like a mirage compared to his overall numbers leading up to 2025, and so far in 2026. However, he had a 45-appearance stretch with a 3.46 ERA between July 3, 2024, and the end of last season.
In that stretch, Bello got at least one out into the sixth inning 30 times. He also racked up 23 quality starts and allowed three or fewer runs 39 times.
It’s not always been pretty for him, but he kept the Red Sox in most games during that stretch.
His changeup often makes or breaks his outings. Though the Red Sox would like more separation in velocity between that pitch and his fastballs, he baffled the Mets on Sunday, averaging 89.9 mph on it. His changeup generated nine swings, but four of them missed bats.
As someone who consistently struggles to miss bats, his changeup flashing a 44.4% whiff rate, even if it was only on nine swings, is a major step in the right direction.
He logs innings, historically keeps the Red Sox in games, and has experience pitching in important games. His first half being what it was can’t change, and finishing with a sub-4.00 ERA is highly unlikely at this juncture. However, he possesses a pedigree most of the Red Sox current rotation does not, even though Sonny Gray and Ranger Suarez are part of it.
Bello’s Antics
Part of what’s made Bello so unpopular in Boston is his attitude.
However, those “issues” are drastically overblown. Sure, he consistently shrinks media availability, which is frustrating for a professional athlete, but other than that, what about him is so different from the average pitcher when he’s struggling?
Before 2025, it seemed Bello often let minor inconveniences snowball into something major. Last year, he seemed to take a major step forward in simply minimizing damage. This year, he’s seemingly undone that progress, but mostly in the rotation. Through eight starts, he’s got a 10.35 ERA and an opponent slash line of .365/.435/.623.
As a reliever, he’s pitched to a 0.91 ERA across 29.2 innings. Though a smaller sample size than his 35.2 innings as a starter, it’s nearly a 50-50 split. It’s clear he’s capable of pitching at the big-league level, there’s just been some sort of block he can’t get away from in the first inning, where he has a 16.88 ERA.
He’s hardly dominated the rest of these outings, but a 4.55 ERA and 4.20 FIP is much more palatable.
But back to the antics, what’s wrong with a player wearing his emotions on his sleeve? There’s never been a story suggesting he’s disliked in the Red Sox clubhouse. Moreover, Jahmai Webster of NESN said on the broadcast that his work ethic after his demotion encouraged the organization.
If the worst thing about him is he throws his glove or slams the gum bucket in the dugout after a bad outing, what’s so wrong with that? Doesn’t that show he cares?
Sure, you’d like him to keep the same demeanor and poise no matter the outing, but there’s much worse things he could do after a bad start than throw his glove and look dejected.
What’s Next For Bello?
It’ll be interesting to see if his outing Sunday bought him some leeway at the MLB level again.
The Red Sox open the unofficial second half with a double header against the Tampa Bay Rays. With first baseman Willson Contreras serving the final game of his suspension in the first game, it’s tough to know if they’ll opt for another bench bat or turn to Bello — especially after the start young left-hander Eduardo Rivera had against the Mets on Saturday.
The Red Sox resurrected their season with a nine-game winning streak and a 14-2 stretch to end the first half. That run saw them ascend in the wild-card race to just a half game out of the race. That said, they have a viable MLB-caliber rotation on the shelf, stretching their pitching depth incredibly thin.
| red sox starters on the injured list |
| LHP Garrett Crochet |
| LHP Ranger Suarez |
| RHP Tanner Houck |
| RHP Kutter Crawford |
| LHP Connelly Early |
| RHP Johan Oviedo |
When healthy, it’s hard to see where Bello fits into the team’s second-half plans. However, they’re not at the moment. Their current rotation is Gray, Tolle, Bennett, Rivera, and Sandoval. Talented, sure, but not much track record of sustained MLB success.
Even if it’s just for a few weeks while others get healthy, Bello is one of the team’s most important players when the team returns from the All-Star break. If the Red Sox want to turn a hot stretch into a memorable 2026 season, they’ll need him both in practice and in production.
Fans don’t have to trust him — and they won’t — but he’s got a tremendous opportunity to re-endear himself to the Boston faithful.
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