How Brayan Bello Continued To Dominate Vs. Rays
Over the last several weeks, Brayan Bello has been throwing the ball well for the Boston Red Sox.
He followed up his first career complete game by throwing 6 1/3 innings against the Tampa Bay Rays. He allowed six hits, one run, and struck out five without walking anyone. The righty has thrown at least six innings in seven of his last eight starts dating back to June 3. The exception is a five-inning outing out of the bullpen in the resumption of a suspended game.
Over that stretch, his sinker command against right-handed batters has been the driving force behind his success. Coming into Sunday, the pitch had a 65.8% strike rate against righties. He’s throwing it often, landing it on the inside part of the plate, and inducing weak contact.
That was the story again against Tampa. He used his sinker 58 percent of the time against righties and recorded a 75 percent strike rate. He buried it on the arm side consistently, setting up his other pitches. Righties were just two for nine against him with two singles.
The Rays’ lineup primarily consisted of lefties, however. Against them, Bello used a more four-seam heavy approach. It returned 65 percent strikes, largely due to 13 foul balls.
Bello was also excellent at finishing at-bats. Half of the hitters he faced got to strike two. Only two of them reached base. If he continues attacking hitters in the zone and not relenting with two strikes, he’ll continue to get deep into games.
After the game, Red Sox manager Alex Cora talked about Bello’s performance.
“That was electric…[Bello] has grown so much in the last two, three years,” Cora said. “Now he’s striking people out. He’s controlling the running game. It was good. It was good to see the ovation, too.”
Although Bello wanted to stay in the game, he couldn’t help but smile when he saw Alex Cora emerge from the dugout, and as he made his way off the field. Bello has always had the tools to be an excellent starting pitcher, and they’re finally starting to come together.
