Red Sox Pitcher Brayan Bello Opens Up About Lat Injury

It appears Red Sox ace Brayan Bello tried to push through a lat injury, given Boston’s injury-riddled rotation.

But that only lasted so long for the 24-year-old right-hander.

The Red Sox placed Bello, who last pitched six innings on Friday in a win over the Pittsburgh Pirates, on the 15-day injured list Wednesday due to right lat tightness.

“It started in Boston and I obviously I felt it in Pittsburgh, but I didn’t say anything,” Bello told reporters through translator Carlos Villoria-Benitez prior to Wednesday’s game against the Cleveland Guardians, as seen on NESN pregame coverage.

Bello becomes the third member of Boston’s starting rotation to land on the IL, joining Nick Pivetta and Garrett Whitlock.

But if there’s good news to come out of Bello’s injury it’s that he isn’t worried about it being a long-term issue.

“I don’t think it’s that serious at all. It’s just tightness,” Bello said. “I can still throw and all of that. It’s just precaution.”

Red Sox manager Alex Cora sees it the same way as Bello, who is off the 3-1 start this season with a 3.04 ERA, 1.050 WHIP and 26 strikeouts in 26 2/3 innings.

“He’ll be OK. This is more of taking care of him,” Cora told reporters, per NESN pregame coverage. “Hopefully he’ll be back when he’s supposed to come back. He’s very important for this organization not only now, but in the future. I think we take care of this and he’ll be fine. Obviously, there’s no guarantees but from my end, I’m not that concerned.”

With Bello’s IL stint retroactive to Sunday, he’s eligible to return May 7. And Bello thinks he’ll be his normal self by then.

“Yeah, I think so,” Bello said on if he’ll only need the 15 days before returning. “I’ll be ready to throw six, seven innings when I come back.”