Brayan Bello's birthday came with a promotion within the the Boston Red Sox minor league system.
Bello, the Red Sox's top pitching prospect who turned 23 years old on Tuesday, was bumped up from Double-A Portland to Triple-A Worcester in a series of minor league roster moves made by the club.
The promotion is well-deserved for Bello, who had a dominant start to the season with the Sea Dogs. The hard-throwing right-hander posted a 4-2 record with a 1.60 earned run average, which was good for second among pitchers in the Eastern League. Bello was near the top in several statistical categories, including strikeouts as he fanned 42 batters in 33 2/3 innings pitched.
Bello added to his resume earlier this month when he tossed a seven-inning no-hitter and in his outing following that start, Bello took a no-no into the fourth inning as part of stretch in which he recorded 39 consecutive outs without allowing a hit.
Bello, who is scheduled to make his debut for the WooSox when he starts against Scranton/Wilkes-Barre on Wednesday at Polar Park, came into this season ranked as the Red Sox's No. 5 prospect, per Baseball America. Last year, Boston named Bello the organization's Minor League Starting Pitcher of the Year after compiling a 7-3 record with a 3.87 ERA while amassing 132 strikeouts in 95 1/3 innings between High-A Greenville and Portland.
Bello wasn't the only player on his way to Worcester, however, as the Red Sox also promoted right-handed pitcher A.J. Politi while optioning southpaw pitcher Kyle Hart and right-handed hurler Darin Gillies down to Portland from Worcester.
