#brayan-bello

#brayan-bello

After a relatively strong season preceding Labor Day(ish), the wheels sorta fell off in the last month or so of 2025. Fast forward to yesterday, where he coughed up four earned runs across four hits and an error in just 1.1 innings against Toronto in Grapefruit League play. Sure, it's only Spring Training. Sure, he wasn't gonna go beyond a few innings anyway. But it's not a great way to start 2026, right?

2025 in a sentence: Bello had a solid year, but his strikeouts were down, the ball was in play, and he struggled late in the season. Sonny Gray's season line would lead many to believe he's a bottom-of-the-rotation pitcher, when the underlying numbers tell a better story. Brayan Bello's season line, on the other hand, paints him in a more positive light than a look under the hood.

It was fast. Too fast for my taste,

It took a little bit for Bello to get going after a brief IL stint to open the season, but from mid-June though August, he was on a roll. Funny how so many things got better in the middle of June. I wonder what changed? Anyway, over a span of 14 starts Bello had an ERA/FIP split of 2.42/3.80 for 89 innings.

The offense had only put up 5 hits all game and had failed to bring runners home in the top of the eighth, when Wong and Hamilton were on the corners with no outs. But the Red Sox really like the top of the ninth on the road right now, and Ceddanne Rafaela, in a moment of redemption and glory, smacked a two-run home run to left field and put the Sox back on top.

Bello's reliance on the cutter, which he effectively mixed and located, proved pivotal in his shutout against the Yankees, showcasing his ability to adapt.

Max Fried has been everything the Yankees could have asked for, with a standout 1.84 ERA and 2.87 FIP, tasked now with stopping the team’s skid.

Hunter Dobbins, a talented right-hander, is being recalled to start for the Red Sox against the White Sox, expected to bolster the pitching rotation.