Red Sox Prospects: Boston’s Brayan Bello is an elite pitching prospect

Boston Red Sox pitching prospect Brayan Bello is elite

The Boston Red Sox have a number of exciting pitching prospects, one that seems to have fallen through the cracks of fan recognition might be one of the best. Brayan Bello is the Red Sox 18th ranked prospect according to MLB (right behind another fantastic pitching prospect that we’ve talked about plenty in Chris Murphy).

Sitting at 18 in the rankings, Bello is clearly highlighted as one of their better prospects. You can’t really blame fans for not knowing much about him though. Bello is still just 22 (just turned 22 on May 17) and is currently in Advanced-A. This is his first year in Advanced-A too. In 2018 Bello pitched in Rookie Ball and was in Full-A in 2019. Obviously, 2020 was a wash due to COVID.

The right-handed pitcher had under 200 innings pitched coming into the year. 2019 wasn’t the best year when it came to numbers for him either. Bello threw 117.2 innings and did have a solid 119 strikeouts but also held a 5.43 ERA, 1.47 WHIP, and .286 BAA. So if you were just looking at the numbers, nothing special.

However, Bello was a 20-year-old in Full-A with fantastic pitches. He simply didn’t know how to use them and had some command issues.

It’s 2021 now though. And with the new season, we have an older and more mature Bello. So far, absolute money. The best way I can describe Bello’s 2021 is that he’s basically Wale. Start after start, he produces like an absolute legend but doesn’t seem to get nearly enough recognition for it.

Bello has made four starts in 2021 – he’s 4-0. It’s not like the Dominican Republic native is just getting tons of run support either, he’s shutting down his opponents. In those four starts, Bello has thrown 21 1/3 innings. He has allowed just five runs (2.11 ERA) on a 0.84 WHIP and .192 BAA. Bello’s struck out 30 batters while only walking four in that time as well.

What we’re seeing is someone turning their potential into talent.

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Bello has a four-seam that sits in the mid-90s, closing in on 100 when he’s topping out. Nice movement and heavily improving command. Meanwhile, he has a two-seam that is a little bit lower in the 90s but can still reach 95. This pitch has really strong movement.

Then there’s a slider with fantastic break. The issue here is that it is a little inconsistent. Bello never really leaves it too flat, but sometimes the break is minimal. Still, it’s a solid pitch in the mid-high-80s that he’s pretty comfortable using.

Finally, a changeup. Oh, what a surprise Hunter loves a pitcher that throws a great changeup! The best pitch in baseball. Bello’s changeup is elite. Like the slider, it sits in the mid-high-80s. Similar look out of his hand to the fastball but with plenty of fade and drop at the plate. This leads to hordes of swings and misses.

The Boston Red Sox have quite a few exciting pitching prospects in their minors. None of them have been as dominant as Brayan Bello in 2021. This is only the beginning too. We could be witnessing Chris Jericho in WCW right now – he’s great and the potential is there – but a GOAT-level career is waiting to burst out.