Boston Red Sox legend Pedro Martinez understands the care needed in developing young pitchers, like Brayan Bello.
Martinez hopes to help bring along the 23-year-old in an effort to get Bello to reach his maximum potential in the big leagues. Bello views Martinez as a mentor, even going over to the Hall of Famer's house this offseason for pitching instructions.
Like many in the Red Sox organization, Martinez sees the budding potential in Bello. Martinez was impressed with how the talented right-hander finished his rookie season. Things started to click for Bello on the mound over his last six starts, as he posted a 2.59 ERA to go along with 31 strikeouts in 31 1/3 innings while only walking 12 batters.
And with Martinez lending a helping hand as a special guest instructor to Red Sox pitchers in Spring Training, he feels he has a duty to try to serve as an aid for Bello as the youngster looks to make another big step in his big-league career.
"We saw it toward the end," Martinez told The Boston Globe's Julian McWilliams. "When Bello was finally acclimated to the team and acclimated to what he needed to do on a consistent basis, he showed his improvement. He showed that he can make the transition from the minor leagues to the big leagues, and at the same time be successful.
"So what we have to do is try to guide him still because he's young enough to be guided. It's difficult to say that at the big level, but I feel we still have the responsibility to guide these young guys."
Bello has already hit a speed bump during Spring Training as he was shut down over the weekend due to forearm tightness.
He was back to throwing from flat ground Monday and Red Sox manager Alex Cora said "everything went fine." The team plans to assess how he feels Tuesday before proceeding forward.
