Red Sox Announce Brayan Bello As Opening Day Starter Against Mariners

The Red Sox on Tuesday announced who will be the Opening Day starter for next week’s matchup against the Seattle Mariners at T-Mobile Park.

Boston announced Brayan Bello will get the nod to kick off the 2024 MLB season. It will be the 24-year-old’s first Opening Day start as he enters his third season in the majors. The starting nod comes after the right-hander signed a six-year extension that reportedly guarantees him $55 million.

Bello expressed throughout spring training his desire to be the anchor of the Red Sox rotation, and his work with Pedro Martinez demonstrated his ability to become a future ace. He’ll get his chance to begin that path next week.

The Red Sox rotation likely will feature Nick Pivetta getting the start in the second game and Kutter Crawford in the third game. Manager Alex Cora still is deciding the rest of the rotation, but Josh Winckowski was taken out of consideration this week after he was moved to a bullpen role.

Tanner Houck, Garrett Whitlock and Cooper Criswell will battle it out for the final rotation spots, but there’s still the possibility the Red Sox sign someone like Jordan Montgomery to add a boost to the pitching staff.