Boston Red Sox top pitching prospect Brayan Bello was scheduled to make his fourth career start in the major leagues Friday night against the Milwaukee Brewers at Fenway Park.
However, Red Sox manager Alex Cora decided on the day of the game to go in a different direction.
Instead of Bello, who has struggled early on in his big-league career, starting on the mound, Cora elected to use an opener strategy and have left-hander Austin Davis toe the rubber at the outset of the game.
Cora told reporters prior to Friday’s matchup that Bello will be available in relief, and by presumably using the hard-throwing right-hander as a piggyback, it will help the 23-year-old find his footing with the Red Sox and give him some “breathing room,” according to The Boston Globe’s Alex Speier.
While Bello followed Red Sox reliever Josh Taylor at points in the minors, Cora did admit “we’ll see if it works” this time around, per Speier.
It’s certainly not a bad idea to switch things up for Bello and try to get the talented youngster more comfortable with him possibly pitching with a lead. In his three previous starts, Bello never made it past the fourth inning and allowed 14 runs in 16 innings pitch while generating few swings-and-misses.
Davis is used to the opener role, having started two games already this season. Davis only pitched two innings in each of those outings, and the Red Sox are 1-1 on the campaign in games in which Davis starts.
This move by Cora, along with some tweaks he made to the batting order, comes as he looks to push the right buttons to get the Red Sox out of the summer swoon they are in.
