Brayan Bello didn't shine on the Fenway Park mound Wednesday night, but there was one takeaway from his Major League Baseball debut that should encourage the Boston Red Sox.
The 23-year-old looked and acted like he belongs in the big leagues.
Red Sox manager Alex Cora saw as much from Bello as Boston's top pitching prospect threw four innings against the Tampa Bay Rays. While observers might have thought the right-hander was overthrowing as he allowed six earned runs on four hits, Cora didn't see it that way.
"I don't believe so," Cora told reporters when asked if Bello was too amped up Wednesday, as seen on NESN's Red Sox postgame coverage. "You know, Yandy (DÃaz), he got a slider in the middle of the zone, hit it off the wall. Then, (Wander) Franco hit a ground ball through the middle. The ground ball by (Ji-Man) Choi with two outs. I don't think he was overthrowing. I think he was actually under control. He showed the changeup, the sinker. Tried to go up a few times, he didn't get it there. As far as his demeanor and trying to do too much, it didn't feel that way."
The Red Sox-Rays series finale should be chalked up as nothing more than a learning experience for Bello. The Dominican Republic native now knows what it takes to succeed at the highest level, and Red Sox fans surely are itching to see how Bello will take those lessons into his next MLB outing.
