Boston Red Sox
“It just feels like for us to be successful, we need Bello to start.”
Brayan Bello has a 16.88 ERA in the first inning this season. (AP Photo/Charles Krupa)
Ahead of Brayan Bello’s first start since May 17, Red Sox interim manager Chad Tracy was asked on Thursday morning about the long-term outlook of the 27-year-old pitcher — whose splits between his starts and bulk-relief outings have raised plenty of eyebrows.
“It just feels like for us to be successful, we need Bello to start,” Tracy noted.
Bello echoed a similar sentiment after Thursday’s 8-2 loss to the Orioles — a game where he relinquished six runs in the first inning.
“I’ve always been a starter, and when I’ve been successful as a starter, no one asks [the] question whether I have to be in the bullpen or starting games,” Bello said via team translator Carlos Villoria Benítez. “So, just starting from there, just stop that talk, because I’m just having a bad season. That’s it. That’s it. It’s not whether I’m a starter or I’m a reliever. It’s just, having a bad season.”
Clearly, the Red Sox disagree with Bello’s take, as Boston optioned him to Triple-A Worcester just hours after his latest setback.
It’s a disheartening result for a pitcher in Bello who — coming off the best season of his career in 2025 (3.35 ERA in 29 starts) — has labored when tasked with starting games at the big league level this spring.
Entering Thursday’s matinee game against the Orioles, Bello’s numbers when handed the ball in the first inning were downright brutal — sporting a 9.68 ERA and a .370 batting average against over seven total starts.
But in the four games where the Red Sox opened with a reliever and then tasked Bello with pitching deep into the game, he posted a stellar 0.71 ERA, allowing no home runs and holding opponents to a .215 batting average.
As tempting as it might have been to continue to roll out this unorthodox arrangement of Bello logging bulk-relief appearances, it’s a strategy not conducive to long-term success — especially when it comes to upending Boston’s relief corps.
As such, the Red Sox gave Bello another opportunity to try and right the ship amid his confounding results as a starter on Thursday.
And once again, Bello imploded before many had settled into their seats at Fenway Park.
By the end of the first inning, Bello surrendered six total runs to the Orioles — putting Boston behind the eight-ball en route to an 8-2 loss to Baltimore and yet another series loss at their home ballpark.
Bello — who gave up all eight runs over his five total innings — now has a horrific 16.88 ERA in the first innings of games so far in 2026.
It’s the type of split that had Tracy at a loss when asked to sum up another disheartening setback for his club.
“I don’t know. We’ll talk more about that,” Tracy said postgame of Bello’s chances of getting optioned to the minors. “There’s topics there that I want to discuss with everyone inside and be on the same page with all that kind of stuff.”
Had it not been for Garrett Crochet’s extended stint on the injured list, the case can be made that Bello would already be out of the rotation at this stage of the season.
But the righty was defiant after Thursday’s game when asked if he might need to shift his role after yet another brutal outing for his team.
“I’m not thinking about that. I’m thinking about making my adjustments in the big leagues,” Bello said. “I have a big league contract, that doesn’t mean the bosses will take a position or not, taking that into consideration, but I’m a big leaguer, I’m a big league starting pitcher and I’ll make my adjustments here.”
Ultimately, Bello’s proclamation about sticking around in the big leagues wasn’t his to make.
And Bello — now in the third season of a six-year, $55 million deal — will have to pick up the pieces in the minor leagues moving forward.
Conor Ryan is a staff writer covering the Bruins, Celtics, Patriots, and Red Sox for Boston.com, a role he has held since 2023.
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