Wednesday night didn’t exactly go as planned all across the board for Brayan Bello and the Boston Red Sox as they suffered a 7-1 defeat at the hands of the division-rival Tampa Bay Rays.
If you weren’t in Worcester catching the sold-out Chris Sale rehab start, then you likely had your eyes directed at the debut of Bello, Boston’s top pitching prospect.
While many in attendance, rightfully so, had high hopes for the young 23-year-old, the night didn’t transpire to the satisfaction of most — and there’s nothing wrong with that. Bello ultimately got his feet wet and now has a feel for the full Fenway Park experience as a rotation man.
Bello’s final pitching line saw him toss four innings while allowing four earned runs on six hits with three walks and two strikeouts against Tampa Bay.
If you were ready to jump straight into fair-weather mode, with a single start in July being your only reason, perhaps look no further than the optimism offered by Red Sox chief baseball officer Chaim Bloom, who had a few words of encouragement following the loss.
With Chris Sale, Nathan Eovaldi and Michael Wacha all nearing returns to the Red Sox rotation, it might be tempting to use Bello’s electric arm in the Boston bullpen. But in an appearance Thursday on WEEI’s “The Greg Hill Show,” Bloom said it’s unlikely.
“This guy is as exciting a starting pitching prospect as we’ve had in a long time, I don’t think you want to take one of those guys and turn him into a reliever unless you absolutely have to,” Bloom said on WEEI. “Obviously, down the stretch at the end of the season when it’s all hands on deck you do what you need to do. Just over the long haul of summer, we monitor everyone’s workload carefully.”
Bloom’s take is right on point. Bello is just 23 years old, has only one big league start as a frame of reference — not fully suitable for outlandish judgment — and started the year off pitching for the Double-A Portland Sea Dogs.
It doesn’t make sense to change your outlook on Bello and his future role with this club all due to the hurdles of his first outing in Boston. It’s bumps and bruises as such that make for further progress and development. And while it might be tempting to keep him in Boston as a reliever, the best short-term plan might be getting him starts at Worcester.
All in all, it might not have been what Bello or the Red Sox hoped for Wednesday night. Nevertheless, it’s no reason to lose one’s sense of proportion.
