Boston Red Sox Prospects: Brian Van Belle and the near perfect July
By Hunter Noll
Red Sox pitching prospect Brian Van Belle had an almost perfect July
The Boston Red Sox have a lot of really good pitching prospects. Some of those prospects are on the shelf at the moment though. Bryan Mata (one of the best pitching prospects in baseball) has been out all year due to injury. Noah Song is serving a military commitment. Aldo Ramirez has been out since early-mid June. Meanwhile, Thad Ward and Eduard Bazardo have been out since mid-May.
Due to that, the Red Sox minor league teams have needed some other prospects to step up. Brian Van Belle has done just that.
It’s safe to assume that Van Belle is relatively unknown. This is his first year in the Red Sox MiLB system (undrafted free agent in 2020) and the 24-year-old is not on their top-30 prospect list. Things didn’t start out too great for him either too. In May, Van Belle posted a 7.08 ERA, .329 BAA, and 1.57 WHIP.
He improved in June, but the right-hander still posted a 4.24 ERA, .295 BAA, and 1.33 WHIP that month. His numbers dipped nicely, but were still nothing to write home about. Van Belle had a 5.56 ERA, .311 BAA, and 1.44 WHIP heading into July.
Then something happened. Van Belle flipped a switch, he figured things out. In July, Van Belle threw 22 innings. He didn’t allow a single run. In 22 innings, BVB gave up 15 hits, four walks, and no runs – while striking out 24. That all comes out to a 0.00 ERA (obviously), .188 BAA, and 0.86 WHIP. It’s pretty hard to imagine a much better full-month of baseball than that.
This has drastically changed his outlook too. All of a sudden, Van Belle has a 3.70 ERA, .272 BAA, and 1.25 WHIP on the season. He’s the hottest pitcher in the organization. In fact, he’s one of the hottest pitchers in all of baseball.
That should vault him into some serious conversations, right? He now has very solid overall numbers on the year and is on one of the more impressive streaks you’ll see.
Sadly, that’s not how it works with prospects. Too often the flashier guys get all the hype. That’s not saying they don’t deserve it, but there tends to be a lot of prospects that produce who simply don’t get any recognition.
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And Van Belle isn’t exactly flashy. He has a fastball that he has fantastic command of, but it sits in the very low 90s. Don’t expect to see him hitting 95. He doesn’t have a dominating breaking ball either. The big pitch for him is the changeup (oh, look – it’s my favorite pitch). Again great command, low-mid 80s speed, good movement, nice sudden drop, deceptive arm movement – it’s got everything. Elite-level potential on this pitch.
On the year, Van Belle has 69 strikeouts in 65 2/3 innings. You don’t need to be a math major to realize that’s good. Meanwhile, he has only walked 12 people. Also really good.
Let’s look at some of the top pitching prospects for the Red Sox though. Brayan Bello has 87 strikeouts in 59 2/3 innings pitched. Jay Groome has 75 strikeouts in 52 1/3 innings pitched. Do you see the issue? Van Belle has been great but he’s just not as flashy.
That insane month of July should have gotten people talking. It’s relatively quiet though. Sure, you’ve got some people talking but they’re most the nerds like me who watch every Red Sox MiLB game and have stacks of notes.
The best way I can describe it is; Brian Van Belle is Lloyd Banks. He’s not the flashiest and he’s being outshined by other pitchers in the system who are putting up bigger numbers (50 Cent). But he’s producing just as well or better than everyone at the moment.
Next. Red Sox Rumors: Ownership pushing for Max Scherzer trade. dark
The Red Sox have a lot of exciting prospects. Their pitching is a major part of that. Don’t sleep on Brian Van Belle though. He’s figured something out over the last month. Remember this is an undrafted free agent in his first year in the minors and he’s already made the adjustments to go on an utterly dominant run (Goldberg undefeated streak in WCW type-run). A nearly perfect month of July should have turned heads. What will he do for an encore act in August? I don’t know about you but I can’t wait to find out. Who’s next?