At heart of youth movement, Bello gets Opening Day nod

FORT MYERS, Fla. -- As Brayan Bello gathered the news Tuesday morning from Red Sox chief baseball officer Craig Breslow that he will pitch Opening Day in Seattle on March 28, he was happy, excited and surprised.

Perhaps conditioned to be deferential to veterans, Bello thought Nick Pivetta was going to be the choice.

But this is very much Bello’s time. And at a time when the Red Sox are being transparent about building around their young core, the 24-year-old Bello is right in the middle of that, making him a fitting choice to start the first game for the first time in his career.

• Red Sox-Mariners Opening Day starting pitchers: Bello vs. Castillo

These are exciting times for Bello, who recently signed a six-year, $55 million contract extension that includes a club option for a seventh year. Not only that, but the extension was formally announced when the Red Sox were in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic, giving Bello the chance to share the moment with his closest family and friends.

“I do believe he's in a stage in his career and in the organization that he is the right one for that game," manager Alex Cora said before Boston's 5-2 win over the Rays at JetBlue Park. "It's only [one game], but we made a big commitment with him a few weeks ago. He made a big commitment with us. It goes hand in hand. Last year, he proved that he belongs here. Just feels like he's done everything that we asked him to do throughout the offseason, in Spring Training. He keeps improving, and he'll be the guy in Game 1.”

While it is traditional for the manager to inform a pitcher he is going on Opening Day, Cora chose to give the honor to Breslow, who is entering his first season leading Boston’s baseball operations department.

“I’ve done it before,” said Cora, who told Breslow, “‘It should be you.’”

It was a satisfying moment for Bello, who told reporters in late January at the team’s Winter Weekend event in Massachusetts that he was reporting to Spring Training several weeks early in his quest to become the ace of the staff.

“I felt happy, super happy to be told that I was going to be the Opening Day starter,” Bello said. “From now on, I just need to keep working hard to be the best starter than I can and to help my team win. Yeah, I was surprised. I thought they were going to say Nick was going to be their Opening Day starter, so yeah, when they told me, I was super excited.”

To pitch on Opening Day, Bello did have to sacrifice the chance to pitch one of the two games at Estadio Quisqueya Juan Marichal in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic, that the Red Sox played against the Rays March 9-10.

Breslow reminded him of that Tuesday.

“When he told me, he referred to a conversation that we had early in the spring when he asked me about if I’d rather pitch in the Dominican Republic or one of the first two games in Seattle,” Bello said. “And then obviously, I told him that I wanted to start one of the first two games in Seattle. So when he told me that, ‘Now, you earned it,' that was something really nice to be told I was going to be the Opening Day starter.”

Once Lucas Giolito went down for the season following right elbow surgery, the competition was between Bello and Pivetta, the lone veteran in the rotation.

Bello emerged out of that competition and will now chase loftier goals.

“Yeah, I think this year for me, the next goal is to win 17 to 20 games and to help my team win. That, for me, is my next goal this year,” said Bello. “I always think big. I always set my bar really high.”

In Bello’s first full Major League season last year, he went 12-11 with a 4.24 ERA in 28 starts.

During the summer, Bello was pitching like an ace for Boston. But he wore down in September, motivating him to change his offseason routine to build more strength and endurance.

Bello also worked to perfect his slider with Hall of Famer and Red Sox icon Pedro Martinez.

On March 28, Bello will try to go toe to toe with another pitcher from the Dominican in Luis Castillo.

“I don’t know him personally, but everybody knows who Luis Castillo is in the Dominican Republic and in the big leagues,” said Bello.

Castillo is the type of reliable workhorse Bello hopes to become in short order.

“Yeah, of course,” said Bello. “I like to compete against the best, and you learn from the best.”