Bello continues to search for answers after career-low outing

BOSTON -- After showing signs of turning his season around in Toronto on June 19, Brayan Bello again took the mound to face the Blue Jays’ lineup on Tuesday night.

Last week, Bello held Toronto to two runs over six laborious innings. This time around, Bello got through two clean innings before he was chased out of the game in a seven-run third en route to a 9-4 defeat at Fenway Park. The loss snapped a three-game win streak for the Red Sox and marked the shortest outing of Bello’s young career.

“My mindset is good. Mechanics are good. I don't really know what's going on right now,” Bello said through interpreter Daveson Pérez. “But I do know that I'm working with [pitching coach Andrew Bailey] on attacking the zone, doing what I'm supposed to do. And there's still a lot of season left for me. I know it hasn't been great to this point, but I know what I'm capable of and I know what I can do for the rest of the season.”

Bello started his 2024 campaign strong, compiling a 3.04 ERA over his first five starts before he was sidelined by right lat tightness for just shy of a month. Coming into Tuesday, Bello carried a 5.95 ERA in the 42 1/3 innings he pitched since he was reinstated from the injured list ahead of his May 12 start against Washington.

The frustrations came to a head on June 8, when Bello slammed his glove into the mound after giving up a grand slam to Gavin Sheets. It was a moment that manager Alex Cora called “out of character” for Bello, and something that has prompted conversations between the staff and the young pitcher. At 25 years old and in the midst of just his second full season in the Majors, Bello has put in work not only to hone his craft on the mound, but with it, his attitude and demeanor.

“I think [as] players we're emotional beings, and it's OK to show your emotion,” Bailey said ahead of Tuesday’s start. “I think understanding sometimes what that looks like from the outside, even though it may not be what you're thinking in a moment. And he's learning and growing. I think being able to control your emotions, or share them appropriately are big steps.”

The first domino to fall in Tuesday’s fateful third inning was a Kevin Kiermaier single that was deflected by second baseman Enmanuel Valdez to right fielder Wilyer Abreu. A throwing error by Abreu resulted in two runs scoring to tie the game. After back-to-back walks, Bello gave up three more runs on a Vladimir Guerrero Jr. double and a Justin Turner groundout, before George Springer went deep on a 1-0 slider.

When the ball landed in Boston’s bullpen, Bello didn’t slam his glove or hang his head. Instead, he immediately turned to home plate umpire David Rackley to get the ball and move on to the next batter -- though a mound visit from Cora assured Springer would be his last.

“I've been working on that personally since the Minors, controlling those emotions,” Bello said. “I think it's something that year after year I've done a really good job at doing, but this year hasn't been that way. So I think it's a good point, something that I need to pay attention to.”

As for the mechanical side of his recent pitching woes, strike-throwing has been an area of weakness for Bello. He threw strikes at a 55.8 percent clip (29 of 52) on Tuesday, marking the lowest of any start this year and the second lowest of his career behind an outing against the Rangers on Sept. 20, 2023, in which he threw 53.7 percent strikes.

“Brayan is a really, really driven competitor and he holds himself to a really high standard,” Bailey said. “And when we have these trials, we have to understand that success usually comes after a period of failure and it makes success feel that much better. And then how can we be consistent with success? So [to] understand the emotional component of things [is] something definitely that we’re working on.

“ … He couldn't be a better teammate and a young leader on this staff. Very carefree and, like I said, he's the ultimate competitor. He wants to win.”