Of course, just as the Boston Red Sox get off on a tear, winning 10 of their last 12 games, the injury bug comes around to humble them. Connelly Early, Ranger Suarez, Willson Contreras and Anthony Seigler have all sustained injuries in the last week, a brutal blow to Boston's sudden Wild Card relevance.
Suarez exited his July 5 start in the third inning due to an adductor injury. He was scheduled to throw a bullpen on July 9 to test the severity of his injury, which is bad enough to place him on the injured list. The Red Sox placed Suarez on the 15-day IL, retroactive to July 6. They've called up Triple-A infielder Brett Harris to take his roster spot as the infield has also been decimated by injuries — Marcelo Mayer, Isiah Kiner-Falefa, Trevor Story and Nick Sogard are still sidelined.
Suarez has been one of Boston's best pitchers, if not one of the best pitchers in the American League this season. He's posted a 3.15 ERA, 1.16 WHIP, 97 strikeouts and 26 walks over 91.1 innings. His IL sitnt will cause him to miss his second-career All-Star Game after also missing the first one with an injury.
The Red Sox have announced that Brayan Bello could be a starter option for Saturday, when Suarez was supposed to pitch next. The 27-year-old has struggled severely as a starter this season (10.35 ERA in 35.2 innings) so the Sox optioned him to Triple-A to set himself right.
If Red Sox call Brayan Bello back up after Ranger Suarez IL announcement, they need to use him after an opener
His demotion hasn't gone exactly as planned. Bello has looked better against Triple-A pitching, but not as good as Boston probably hoped. He's clocked a 4.34 ERA, 1.39 WHIP, 22 strikeouts and four walks over 18.2 innings.
Bello is seemingly destined to return to the big leagues in Suarez's stead and the Red Sox know exactly the winning formula they should follow to make his outing seamless: use him behind an opener.
The pressure of starting has weighed on Bello this year, but the stress evaporates when he enters in relief. Bello has posted a 0.71 ERA, 0.91 WHIP, 22 strikeouts and three walks over 25.1 innings. While he's been a capable big league starter in the past and the Red Sox would certainly like to use him as such, they now have a positive trajectory to uphold.
If using Bello behind an opener is the best option for Boston's winning streak, it needs to do it to leave the first half of what has been a disastrous season so far on a high note. Momentum is finally swinging in the Red Sox's favor and history shows they have a better chance of maintaining it if Bello enters Sautrday's game behind an opener.
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