The Boston Red Sox's pitching staff has earned the stark increase in attention it's been getting. Fans and reporters across MLB have seen pitching coach Andrew Bailey's teachings work repeatedly, but the turnaround in Boston's staff felt swift, more so than many expected.
The first time through the Sox's starting rotation went exceedingly well for them. Boston boasts the lowest ERA in MLB and the starting pitchers issued just one walk in the first cycle through the rotation. They've also posted the fourth-most strikeouts in the league with 77 K's in seven games.
Brayan Bello's second start caused some of the confidence around the Sox's pitching to dissipate. The Oakland A's got to Boston's Opening Day starter and they hit two homers off the young righty.
One of Bailey's messages to his players is that fastballs have historically caused the most damage on the scoreboard. Offspeed pitches are unpredictable and sometimes unexpected, making them harder to read and hit.
Tony Massarotti shared his thoughts on Brayan Bello's second start, how Andrew Bailey's strategy could hurt the Red Sox
SHEA 😤 pic.twitter.com/pPGNtonfDu
— Oakland A's (@Athletics) April 3, 2024
WEEI radio host Tony Massarotti highlighted that Bailey's "limit the fastballs" strategy may not work all the time, especially for Bello, whose best pitch is a sinker. Both Shea Langeliers and JJ Bleday homered off breaking pitches during Bello's start and the 24-year-old tends to struggle more with breaking pitches. Langeliers drilled a slider that was left up and Bleday got the best of a poorly executed changeup, which is Bello's second-best pitch.
Mazz argued that Bailey's strategy only works if pitchers can execute the softer pitches as well as they do fastballs. Against the A's, Bello struggled to get his breaking pitches to the right spot and the opposition took advantage.
But Bello's pitched just 10 innings this year. He's also bearing the weight of being an "ace" of sorts for the first time in his young career. The sample size of games is too small to jump to conclusions about Bailey's teachings working or not, despite what many publications, this one included, have said about the Sox's rapid improvements in the pitching department. It feels good to be positive, though, and the hype surrounding the pitching staff has been fun for Boston fans.
Another part of Bailey's philosophy is playing to the pitcher's strengths. Boston's new pitching coach said that he believes there are players on the Red Sox who can make better use of their fastball than others, and Bello is likely one of them. His sinker tears up righty batters and he probably could have thrown it to get Langeliers.
Andrew Bailey just needs to tell Brayan Bello to do his thing. He doesn’t have to be like the other guys.
— Ryan Martin (@remartin_34) April 4, 2024
Keep the 4 Seamer totally on the shelf for now? Absolutely.
Try to work backwards and throw a slider in a 2-1 count, when you have a 97+ mph sinker? No, pump the heat 🔥🔥 https://t.co/foiiMc9urk
Bello has time to work out the kinks in his execution of slower pitches and to figure out which parts of Bailey's methodology work for him. The pitching coach still has the vast majority of the season to continue to work on Boston's staff, which has seen sweeping improvements after just five months.
Mazz's skepticism is valid because Bailey hasn't been with the Sox for long — there's no telling if his ideas will work for it long-term. But the greater issue here is Bello's execution of his breaking pitches, which he's been working on with his mentor, Pedro Martínez, who also knows a thing or two about pitching.
Once Bello learns when to play to his strengths under Bailey's instruction, he could become the ace the Sox need him to be. But all good things take time.