This Gives Red Sox Confidence Brayan Bello Can Overcome Recent Struggles

There seems to have been an unfair expectation placed on Boston Red Sox pitcher Brayan Bello in 2023.

No, not directly by the Red Sox, but by folks who have found ways to worry about a 24-year-old pitcher who has a 3.81 ERA in his first full season. That’s life as the future ace of the franchise, huh?

Bello has been far from perfect, but the prognostications of doom might be a tad overblown. In what has certainly been his worst extended stretch of the season, Bello has compiled a 5.93 ERA over his last five starts and earned a loss in the only two games Boston has dropped. Still, there doesn’t seem to be much worry coming from the Red Sox.

“I’ve told him, ‘Look, no one rolls through the season without any ups and downs,'” Red Sox pitching coach Dave Bush said Thursday on the “Fenway Rundown” podcast with MassLive’s Sean McAdam and Chris Cotillo. “He was really good for a long time, and the last couple of starts haven’t been quite what we wanted, but he works very diligently on and off the field. His workouts have been great. His mound work in between starts has been great. I’m very confident that he’s going to get right back to where he was earlier.

“This pattern continues, no one goes through 30-some-odd starts without any hiccups. There’s always adjustments to be made as your body moves through the season and as teams adjust to you. But, again, no problems and no lack of confidence on his part. I’m sure that he’ll pick it up really soon here.”

It’s very easy to excuse the bad starts, but Bello has given the Red Sox a quality start in 11 of 20 outings on the season. That’s more than any other pitcher on the staff, with James Paxton (eight) and Chris Sale (five) failing to come even close to that number.

The lack of quality starts in Boston is another story for another day, but it’s a solid representation of just how consistent Bello has truly been. He’s giving the Red Sox a chance to win more often than not and has put together a number of gems in a bounce-back season from his struggle-filled rookie campaign. If the defense behind him was up to par all year, perhaps we’re talking about a 10-win pitcher with another six weeks to go.

Bello is going to be good for a long time, he’s just not going to be perfect.