Brayan Bello Punches Out 10 In Triple-A Debut

Image credit: Brayan Bello (Photo by Rob Tringali/MLB Photos via Getty Images)

WORCESTER, Mass.—Red Sox No. 4 prospect Brayan Bello made his Triple-A debut Wednesday night, tossing six innings of two-run ball while striking out 10 to earn the win for the Woo-Sox in front of a home crowd of 7,210.

The hard-throwing righthander amassed a 4-2 record with a 1.60 ERA and 42 strikeouts to 12 walks over 33.2 innings with the Double-A Portland Sea Dogs prior to promotion. Most notably, in Bello’s penultimate Double-A start he threw a seven-inning no-hitter in the back half of a doubleheader.

On Wednesday, Bello showed his mettle, as he sat down six of the first seven batters he faced, four via strikeout. His high-water mark came in the second inning, when he struck out the side in order, getting swinging third strikes against his fastball to end each at-bat. He sat 96-97 mph, touching 98 mph, locating his fastball to both sides of the plate while mixing in sliders and changeups.

With two outs in the third, Bello allowed a home run on a slider he hung to Estevan Florial, and the Yankees No. 26 prospect drove it over the wall in left-center field. Bello immediately settled in as he struck out the Yankees No. 2 prospect Oswald Peraza on a slider to get out of the inning.

Bello’s slider was his primary secondary weapon on the night as he used it early and often, landing it in the zone consistently for called strikes and forcing hitters to swing later in counts. The pitch sat 84-86 mph with some sweep and drop that played up off of his lower three-quarters slot. He didn’t have the same feel for his changeup, but he showed it when needed.

Bello allowed some loud contact in the fourth, as consecutive one-out doubles by Greg Bird and Phillip Evans scored a run before Bello induced a first pitch flyout off the bat of Derek Dietrich, before striking out Max McDowell on a 96 mph fastball for his seventh punch out of the evening.

He once again saw traffic in the fifth, allowing a one-out walk, followed by a single, before settling down to once again strike out Peraza on three pitches, the coup de grâce a 96 mph fastball he blew by the shortstop.

In the sixth, Bello’s final frame, he worked around a leadoff double to set down the next three batters, with a combo-meal of outs—a ground ball, a flyout and a swinging strikeout to put the exclamation mark on the performance.

Jarren Duran, Yolmer Sanchez and Ryan Fitzgerald provided the offense, and Bello earned the win with a strong six-inning, 10-strikeout performance. The strong outing was certainly enough to leave Red Sox fans in attendance brimming with anticipation for Bello’s potential promotion to the big league club this summer.