Sonny Gray left the Boston Red Sox's Patriots' Day game against the Detroit Tigers after grabbing his leg in the third inning. The veteran was later diagnosed with a hamstring strain and placed on the 15-day injured list, forcing the Red Sox to make some changes to their rotation for at least two cycles.
Sox manager Alex Cora announced before Boson's series opening game against the New York Yankees that the rotation order could be "fluid" in the coming days — Connelly Early started game one, with Ranger Suárez and Brayan Bello listed as the probable starters for games two and three, respecitvely. But on April 22, Boston changed its starter for Thursday evening's tilt to "TBD."
Multiple sources report that Bello will start on April 24 against the Baltimore Orioles and Garrett Crochet will follow. Red Sox fans hope the team will call Payton Tolle up to take Bello's place in the rotation.
Tolle quickly emerged as a fan-favorite after his MLB debut on August 29, during which he generated eight strikeouts. He's off to a great start through three appearances in Triple-A, with a 3.00 ERA, 19 strikeouts and eight walks over 16.1 innings of work.
Red Sox fans hope delaying Brayan Bello's start means Payton Tolle will start their April 23 game against the Yankees.
Tolle is likely the No. 1 choice to take Gray's rotation spot because the Red Sox had already thought to call him up before the injury. The lefty was removed from his scheduled start on April 18 in the event that Boston would have to play a rainout doubleheader against the Tigers on Patriots' Day due to poor weather. Tolle also has MLB experience, which his fellow top pitching prospect Jake Bennett does not.
Moving Bello's start is a curious choice by Boston. Bello has historically been quite successful against the Yankees, as he's posted a 2.35 ERA against them and held them to a .213 batting average over 65 innings in his career. The soon-to-be-27-year-old has struggled to get going this season, however, with a 6.75 ERA, 13 strikeouts and 12 walks over 18.2 innings of work so far.
Suárez has recently found his best self and Tolle has a refreshed arsenal and clear strikeout stuff, while Bello's command has been iffy. The Yankees have one of the most powerful offenses in MLB through the first three weeks of the season and keeping them off the bases will be key to a series win — the Red Sox may think that Tolle is better suited to provide than Bello, or they may think Bello needs some extra rest to fall into the rhythm he had last year.
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