“One of the things that we asked him to do was to fall in love with baseball all over again. To go down, to compete — he’s going to work hard, we know that — but to kind of remember why he loved playing this game.”
Get Starting Point
The Sox demoted Bello to Triple-A Worcester on Thursday after his latest mess, a six-run, 40-pitch first inning against the Orioles (in what became a five-inning, eight-run start overall). His ERA rose to 6.34, 10.35 as a starter (vs. 0.71 when appearing behind an opener).
Those struggles grew so extreme, Breslow said, that the Red Sox decided “this was no longer the best place for him to reset and work through this process.”
Bello, 27, is in the third year of a heavily backloaded six-year, $55 million contract. He had been the Sox’ longest-tenured starter, a member of the rotation since late 2022. The organization still has “a lot of belief in Brayan as a major league starter,” Breslow said.
Just not right now, not while they are trying to turn the season around.
“Made that decision with the best interest of Brayan in mind, with the best interest of the Red Sox,” Breslow said.
Bello handled it “very professionally, very respectfully,” according to Breslow. He said Bello’s attitude after the game Thursday — when he told reporters to “just stop that talk” about whether he should be in the rotation or bullpen or majors or minors — didn’t factor into the Sox’ call.
Bello’s body language has indicated frustration, including when he tried to wave off catcher Carlos Narváez during a mound visit Thursday.
“We just need to go down there and let him have some success and kind of build some insulation,” Breslow said. “At some point somebody is going to hit a ball that gets through a hole somewhere, and [Bello needs to] go right back to attacking strikes.
“It’s no secret that once things started to go in the wrong direction, they unraveled a little bit, and part of what this reset will do is give him a chance to work through that. And he’ll kind of remember and he’ll figure out again that his game is built on managing contact, so some balls are going to find holes, and let’s get a double play with the next ground ball.”
The Red Sox plan to call up a starter to replace Bello, whose turn comes around Tuesday. Interim manager Chad Tracy mentioned one candidate: lefthander Jake Bennett, who owns a 1.60 ERA with Worcester.
The newest new guy
Joe La Sorsa, a lefthanded reliever, joined the Red Sox for their series opener against the Yankees, a day after they acquired him from the Pirates.
La Sorsa, 28, got a kick out of the timing: He is from nearby Katonah and played at St. John’s University in Queens. Since he grew up a Mets fan, yes, he would quite enjoy pitching at Yankee Stadium, especially as a visitor.
“This is the biggest rivalry in all of sports,” he said. “Very happy to be part of the Red Sox and do whatever I can to beat them.”
To clear a spot on the 40-man roster, the Sox moved Garrett Crochet to the 60-day injured list. It doesn’t change his timeline to return.
Whitlock locked in
Garrett Whitlock (left knee inflammation) will make a rehab appearance with Worcester on Saturday, Tracy said. The Sox haven’t decided if it will be his only one. He is eligible to return from the IL on Tuesday … Lefthander Patrick Sandoval (biceps, elbow) tossed 1⅓ scoreless innings for Worcester on Friday, his first appearance in a new rehab assignment. He retired four of five batters and walked the other. Breslow said there are “a few different paths that are available to us” regarding when the Red Sox bring Sandoval back and in what role … Tracy on the Yankees’ Aaron Judge (stress fracture in rib): “I’ll say the same thing I said about [Tarik] Skubal: Obviously, for us, not having to deal with him is good; not great for baseball.”
Tim Healey can be reached at [email protected]. Follow him @timbhealey.
