Mickey the Mouth
The Syndicate News Wire
- May 21, 2026
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BOSTON — Brayan Bello will take the mound Saturday for the Red Sox in the middle game of their three-game series with the Minnesota Twins.
Beyond that, the specifics are unclear.
It’s Bello’s turn to pitch, but in what role has to be determined.
“We’re still going to talk about it,” said interim manager Chad Tracy. “We’re still going to talk about whether we’re going to use an opener or not.”
Bello has been rocked often this season, with a 7.16 ERA and a WHIP of 1.795.
In two of his previous three starts, the Red Sox used Jovani Moran as an opener, and Bello responded with two superb outings as the bulk pitcher to follow, allowing one earned run in seven innings the first time and one earned run over 6.1 innings the second time.
However, when his turn came last weekend in Atlanta, the Sox used Bello in a conventional starting role and he was clubbed for seven earned runs in five innings. Prior to the two bulk appearances, he was also hit hard, yielding four runs in 3.2 innings on April 29.
Asked if Bello had done better with the bulk role because of psychological reasons, Tracy was uncertain.
“It could be,” he said. “It’s to get into somebody’s brain with that. The flip side is last year, he got on a roll pitching without an opener and was very, very, very good. If you look at around this time of the year, I think it was 14 out of 17 quality starts and there was no opener there.
“Maybe (that’s the case) in small sample now, but he’s more than capable of doing it. Again, hard to say (what’s going on) inside somebody’s head.”
Red Sox ace Garrett Crochet is making progress after going on the IL with shoulder inflammation and could return sometime in the next two weeks. If Bello doesn’t perform better and soon, he risks losing his spot in the rotation upon Crochet’s return since veterans Sonny Gray and Ranger Suarez along with rookie lefties Payton Tolle and Connelly Early are pitching well.
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