5 Sox storylines to watch

This story was excerpted from Ian Browne's Red Sox Beat newsletter. To read the full newsletter, click here. And subscribe to get it regularly in your inbox.

September is here, meaning the 2022 Red Sox have one more month plus one series at the beginning of October to go in what has been a thoroughly frustrating season. Barring a miracle, there won’t be a pennant race for manager Alex Cora’s team as we wind down to these final 31 games.

However, there will be some relevant storylines to follow. Here are five.

Bello’s progress
One positive development around the Red Sox of late is that top pitching prospect Brayan Bello has shown some progress in his last two starts. However, there is still more work for the 23-year-old righty to do to convince the club that he can be part of the starting rotation when next season starts. Bello, ranked as the club's No. 3 prospect by MLB Pipeline, has only gone five innings in one of his first seven outings. The Red Sox are 0-7 in games he has pitched, though he wasn’t the reason for some of those defeats.=

There is no questioning that Bello has plus stuff. The key will be for him to figure out how to get the most out of it. There will be no better time to do that than these last few weeks of the season. It would be big for Bello to head into the offseason with confidence. His current numbers (0-4, 7.27 ERA) need to improve in the coming weeks.

Casas callup?
Will the Red Sox at last call up Triston Casas, their most advanced hitting prospect? Now that the club’s postseason hopes are on life support, Casas might finally get his chance at some point in September. The left-handed hitter is the top-ranked prospect at first base, according to MLB Pipeline. Drafted out of high school in 2018, the time seems about right for Casas to test his sweet swing and advanced hitting approach at the highest level.

Casas, ranked as Boston's No. 2 prospect by MLB Pipeline, has proved the high right ankle sprain he had earlier in the season is no longer an issue. In his first 85 at-bats of August, Casas had a line of .329/.462/.541 with 10 doubles, a triple and two homers. His arrival would bring excitement to the Red Sox for the final few weeks of the season.

Story’s stroke
The positives from Trevor Story’s first season in Boston? Stellar defense at second base and speed on the bases. The negative has been a lack of consistency on offense. Cora said Story worked hard during his time on the injured list to fix some flaws in his swing. Story didn’t want to get into the details. In his first three games back, Story went 4-for-10. It would be good for him to have a strong September at the plate to give him some confidence going into 2023.

Houck’s back
Though the Red Sox don’t need to rush closer Tanner Houck back into action given where they are in the standings, it would be good for the righty to be able to test his ailing back in game action before the season ends. Houck seemed to be close to coming back, but the Sox canceled his bullpen session on Aug. 30, when he experienced more back soreness. Backs can be tricky to come back from, as evidenced by the fact Josh Taylor hasn’t thrown a pitch for the Red Sox this season. It would give everyone around the club some peace of mind if he could come back at some point this month.

The catching situation
While the acquisition of Reese McGuire didn’t get much of a buzz when the Red Sox traded Jake Diekman for him on Aug. 1, the catcher had 20 hits in his first 52 at-bats with his new team while performing solidly on defense. McGuire -- a first-round selection of the Pirates in the 2013 MLB Draft -- has provided reason to believe he can be part of the team’s catching situation next season. McGuire is under the club’s control for the next three seasons. But what about the rest of the catching equation?

With Kevin Plawecki eligible for free agency, it made sense for the Sox to call up Connor Wong on Thursday for the stretch run. The switch-hitter, acquired in the trade for Mookie Betts, has been on an absolute tear of late. Wong belted eight homers for Triple-A Worcester in his past 62 at-bats. Catchers who can hit are hard to find.