NEW YORK — Brayan Bello returned to a major league mound Sunday, for perhaps just one day and in a unique role. That didn’t stop him from performing quite well.
With starter Payton Tolle set up for a shorter-than-usual start in a club effort to keep an eye on his workload, Bello piggybacked the lefty Sunday and kept the Red Sox in a game they’d eventually come back to win, 3-2. Bello relieved Tolle after a Tyrone Taylor double with two outs in the fourth inning and lasted 4 ⅓ innings, allowing two hits while striking out five. The only blemish came in the sixth when Francisco Lindor lifted a solo homer the other way.
“I thought he was great… I thought he was huge,” said interim manager Chad Tracy.
An efficient Bello needed just 55 pitches (38 strikes) to get 13 outs. He used a different-looking pitch mix to do so, leaning on his changeup 29% of the time (up from 18% usage previously) and his sweeper 29% (up from 12%) while reducing how much he threw his sinker and cutter. Bello’s four-seam fastball averaged 97.2 mph in a small sample, which was a significant uptick from previous outings. In all, he got eight whiffs while bridging the gap to closer Aroldis Chapman, who entered and pitched a scoreless ninth once the Red Sox tied the game, 2-2.
Bello’s promotion came at a time when the Red Sox wanted to de-load Tolle’s workload entering the break. The 23-year-old is now at 99 innings (84 in the majors and 15 at Triple-A) since Opening Day. In all of 2025, Tolle — a year removed from his final college season at TCU — threw 108 ⅓ innings.
Tolle came out at 66 pitches in the fourth. It was just the third time in 15 starts in which he threw more than 80 this season.
“I get it,” he said. “Those are decisions for people a lot smarter than me. I’m gonna go out there every time and want to compete every time. I want to go as long as I can every time, compete every time, but I get it and understand it. I was joking with (pitching coach) Andrew Bailey, ‘I’m gonna come yell at you later.’ But I get it because that’s where we’re at right now.”
The future is uncertain for Bello, who made four starts with Triple-A Worcester between his demotion on June 4 and Sunday. He could be sent back down to the WooSox to continue to get regular work as a starter or be in the mix for an outing Friday when the Red Sox have a doubleheader at Fenway against the Rays.
Bello’s splits continue to be staggering. As a starter, he has a 10.35 ERA (41 earned runs in 35 ⅔ innings). But in five games coming out of the bullpen (all following a one-inning opener before Sunday), Bello has allowed only three earned runs in 29 ⅔ frames. That’s a 0.91 ERA as a reliever.
