The Red Sox are optioning right-hander Brayan Bello to Triple-A Worcester, reports Dan Roche of WBZ. Boston will add recently acquired lefty reliever Joe La Sorsa to the active roster for tomorrow’s series opener in The Bronx.
Bello was knocked around again this afternoon, giving up eight runs over five innings to take the loss against the Orioles. He’s now sitting on a 6.34 earned run average over 61 frames on the season. He’s striking hitters out at a career-low 15.6% rate. Bello has a career-worst average exit velocity allowed while giving up a lofty 1.48 home runs per nine innings.
The primary issue is that Bello has had no answers for left-handed batters. They carried a .323/.384/.554 line with nearly as many walks as strikeouts in 147 plate appearances into today’s start. He hasn’t been good against right-handed hitters either, but the numbers against lefties are completely untenable. That was also an issue for Bello early in his career.
Boston has tried to work around that by using a left-handed opener in front of Bello on four occasions. He has pitched very well in those outings, but the opener (Jovani Morán or Tyler Samaniego) has allowed at least one run in each. The Sox have gone 1-3 in those games despite Bello having a combined 0.71 ERA across 25 1/3 innings.
The 27-year-old righty was asked about the stark difference between his performance as a bulk arm versus starts. He was clearly unhappy with the question.
“First of all, just stop talking about bullpen and starting games,” he said in Spanish via the team’s interpreter (link via Jen McCaffrey of The Athletic). “I’ve always been a starter, and when I’ve been successful as a starter, no one asks your question (about) whether I have to be in the bullpen or starting games. So, just starting from there, just stop that talk, because I’m just having a bad season. That’s it. It’s not whether I’m a starter or I’m a reliever. It’s just, having a bad season. I know that I can turn it around.”
Marcos Grunfeld of El Emergente, a native Spanish speaker on the Boston beat, directly translated Bello’s comments a little more firmly:
“First of all, just stop talking about this bullpen-starter crap because when I’m pitching well as a starter, nobody talks about it. Now that I’m having a bad season as a starter, everybody wants to talk crap about it. The first thing is that we should stop talking about it and focus on the good things. Yes, I’m having a bad season as a starter, but I believe things are going to get better.”
In any case, the Sox probably would’ve proceeded with the demotion based on Bello’s performance alone. He’s in the third season of a $55MM extension signed in Spring Training 2024. Bello posted a 4.49 ERA that year and had a career season in 2025. He turned in a 3.35 mark across 166 2/3 innings, albeit with a drop in strikeouts that has only heightened this year. Bello is playing on a $6MM salary and guaranteed $44.5MM from 2027-29 (including a buyout on a 2030 club option).
Pitchers must spend at least 15 days on an optional assignment unless they’re recalled to replace an injured player. Boston can carry an extra reliever until his next scheduled start on Tuesday. Rookie southpaw Jake Bennett, who made his first two career starts earlier in the season, seems the likeliest candidate to come up. He owns a 1.60 ERA with plus strikeout and walk marks in Triple-A.
The Red Sox still need to create a 40-man roster spot to select La Sorsa’s contract. Garrett Crochet could move to the 60-day injured list, assuming he won’t be back from his low-grade lat strain within the next three weeks. A transfer would backdate to his initial April 26 placement.
