Roger Clemens’ Red Sox’s debut was flat. Now it is Brayan Bello’s turn.
The next great Boston Red Sox pitcher will arrive for his first MLB start against the Tampa Bay Rays. The Rays can hit so that the test will be good for Brayan Bello, a 23-year-old righty with a blazing fastball. BSI has the Bello background well covered, and the hype is magnifying. Now a step back in time.
On May 15th of 1984, another righty was well-publicized and called up for his first MLB start. Roger Clemens‘ first game was against the Cleveland Indians in a rather inauspicious beginning to a career that collected 192 wins with the Red Sox. Clemens struggled with a pedestrian pitching line: 5.2 IP, 11 H, 5 R, 4 ER, 3 BB, 4 K. Better days were ahead.
Clemens had made only 18 minor league starts after being a number one draft pick for Boston. I saw a game he tossed at Pawtucket (AAA) in early May, and his calling card was heat. Clemens was physically lean compared to later years, but the talent was evident. Rough around the edges, but you could smell the hitter’s fear.
That season, the Red Sox were a wretched team already having a disappointing season, but things turned around as the season pressed forward and they won 86 games. Clemens steadily improved, and when the books closed, Rocket went 9-4, 4.32. Still, many were disappointed, and it only magnified in 1985.
In 1985, injuries hit and ultimately Clemens had surgery. Was this another pitcher who would be damaged goods? Was the early hype just another example of the Red Sox overstating ability? That all vanished in 1986, and Clemens’ record in Boston was superb.
Bello comes in with similarly high expectations as Clemens. In this instance, the stakes are higher as Boston is in the thick of a grueling schedule and a playoff race. With Clemens, they were 15 games out.
If Bello gets racked up like Charlie Zink, it won’t be the end of a career. Like Clemens’s, there is just too much talent in the kid’s arm. Bello may get a quick shuffle back to Worcester no matter the results, or if the performance is excellent, stay around. A management decision, but with a staff that is getting more nicks and dents than a Boston cab, he may be a lifeline.
Bello knows what to expect as the locker room grapevine is loaded with stories and impressions of what it is like at Fenway Park. Bello also knows that, like with Connor Seabold, a bad game does not mean the end of the road. Bello also knows opportunity and sees it with Josh Winckowski.
The flighty Red Sox fans will be patient with Bello even if he gets rocked. They know a good slice of the pitching future of this team will be Bello. As with Clemens, the opening may not have been much, but better things followed.