On February 10, Boston Red Sox pitchers and catchers (and some position players) reported to Fenway South in Fort Myers for spring training. Of course, homegrown starter Brayan Bello was in that group.
The last time Red Sox fans saw Bello on the mound was on October 1 in Boston's second Wild Card game against the New York Yankees. Bello, usually a Yankee killer, didn't have his best stuff that night, and despite being strapped for starting pitchers, Alex Cora pulled him after 2.1 innings.
Before his first live batting practice session of spring training on February 12, Bello had months to reflect on his brief playoff performance. He shared his findings with reporters later that day.
"It was fast, too fast for my taste. But at the same time, you can see the difference between a regular season start and the postseason. The adrenaline is completely different when you’re in the postseason and I think that’s something I learned from it, that now I know how it feels, and I know that it's not going to take too long before I'm out there again in a postseason game,” Bello said.
Brayan Bello learned from his short playoff appearance with the Red Sox
The adrenaline of a playoff appearance clearly weighed on Bello who had a rock-solid year for Boston (3.35 ERA, 123 ERA+ over 166.2 innings). The 26-year-old allowed a two-run homer to Ben Rice in the first inning, then two singles and a fielder's choice in the third inning. The contact spooked Cora enough to pull Bello early when the Red Sox only had three healthy starters for their postseason run.
Bello has had a history of his emotions getting the best of him on the mound, mostly when he was younger and less experienced. He's turned a page in 2024-25, when he made 30 and 29 appearances, respectively, as the Sox's No. 2 starter.
After the Red Sox bolstered their rotation with Ranger Suárez, Sonny Gray and Johan Oviedo this offseason, Bello was the subject of plenty of trade rumors, which couldn't have made processing his playoff loss any easier. He's still with Boston, however, with multiple full seasons of experienced on his résumé and veterans like Suárez and Gray to help him improve even more.
Bello will still have to fight for his spot in the Sox's rotation with Crochet, Suárez, Gray and Oviedo seeming like locks for four of the five spots. Kutter Crawford, Patrick Sandoval and Connelly Early represent some fierce competition, but so does Bello with his "disgusting" sinker (in Gray's words) and recent playoff experience.