Red Sox pitching prospect Brayan Bello set for MLB debut
It’s happening! Stay calm! Boston Red Sox top pitching prospect Brayan Bello is set to make his Major League debut on Wednesday against the Tampa Bay Rays.
Confirmed from the man himself, Brayan Bello has been informed he’s starting for the Red Sox Wednesday
— Katie Morrison (@KatieMo61) July 5, 2022
Bello has sky-rocketed the ranks over the last season-and-a-half. He cracked the top 100 prospects list on MLB Pipeline, where he’s ranked as the No. 4 prospect in the Red Sox system and first among the organization’s pitching prospects. This thanks to some absolutely dominant pitching performances. And this season, he’s really been untouchable.
The right-handed pitcher started the year in Double-A. That didn’t last too long though. He made just six starts at the level in 2022. In that time, Bello posted a 1.60 ERA, .138 BAA, 0.83 WHIP, and 42 strikeouts over 33 1/3 innings pitched.
Triple-A wasn’t much harder for the 23-year-old. Over nine appearances (51 1/3 innings pitched) he rolled out a 2.81 ERA, .209 BAA, 1.17 WHIP, and 72 strikeouts. For those doing the math at home, that’s a ridiculous 114 strikeouts over 85 innings so far this season. Domination.
Bello has a nasty mix of pitches that includes a fastball in the mid-high 90s, a really good changeup (high-80s), and a devastating slider (mid-80s). Solid command and an ability to create weak contact pretty consistently (six home runs allowed), have helped Bello be so successful as well.
It will be interesting to see what the Red Sox plan is here. Is Bello going to be a long-term solution? Or is this sort of a short-term one-or-two game deal? Could it possibly depend on how well he does?
Hopefully, Boston is planning on giving him a chance to really prove what he can do for a while. Bello’s one of the most exciting pitching prospects we’ve seen in the system in a very long time. He really has all the tools you need to become an ace. Nothing’s really missing. It’s not like we’re looking at him and seeing “he needs another pitch” or “his command is really bad”. The ingredients are there and he’s produced at a high level.
Now it’s time to see what Brayan Bello can do in a Boston Red Sox uniform. And it seems like the fans couldn’t be much more excited either.