The Red Sox announced that left-hander Brennan Bernardino has been recalled from Triple-A, with right-hander Brayan Bello optioned in a corresponding move.
The Sox started the season short-handed in the rotation, as all of Bello, Garrett Whitlock and James Paxton started the season on the injured list. That allowed Tanner Houck, who has worked as both a starter and a reliever in recent years, to get a rotation spot out of the gate. Bello and Whitlock returned from the IL recently, giving the club a difficult decision to make since Houck had gotten off to a decent start. Through four outings, he has struck out 25.6% of batters faced while walking 9.3% and getting ground balls on 58.9% of balls in play. Despite those strong peripherals, his 4.29 ERA is fairly average thanks to a 20% HR/FB rate.
Though that’s not exactly ace-level work, he’s still been arguably the club’s best starter this year. Chris Sale has an ERA of 8.00, Corey Kluber is at 8.50, Nick Pivetta at 4.58 and Whitlock at 6.19. Bello has only made two starts but is at 9.82. Although Houck has frequently moved from the rotation to the bullpen and back, it would have been difficult to bump him right now when he’s arguably been the club’s best starter this year. The club has been running out a six-man rotation recently but has multiple off-days coming up on the schedule, which would make it challenging to continue that. Today’s move provides a bit of clarity on the path forward, allowing Houck to hold that rotation spot for now and see if he can stretch his results over a larger sample.
As for Bello, he hasn’t got out to a great start this year, getting shut down in spring with forearm tightness and missing the beginning of the season. He returned recently but allowed eight earned runs over 7 1/3 innings in his first two starts. He’ll head down to Worcester to try to get into a groove again after the bumpy start to the campaign. It wouldn’t be a surprise to see him back up in short order, as he posted a 2.34 WRA in the minors last year and was a fixture of top prospect lists before graduating last year.
Even if Bello succeeds in Worcester, there might be some crowding in the Boston rotation with Sale, Kluber, Pivetta, Whitlock and Houck having the five spots for now. In addition to that, Paxton is rehabbing in the minors, though his last outing was a disaster. He tossed 43 pitches while recording only two outs and allowed seven earned runs.
And there ya go, he’s out of the rotation just as I suspected. I’m guessing he didn’t get moved to the BP because they have literally only one lefty reliever right now, and Cora loves his L/R matchups.
I wouldn’t be surprised if Bello gets called up relatively soon due to an injury or pitching staff burnout.
Fever, he’ll be back when he shows he can handle it. He’s got the stuff and simply needs time to develop. Had the staff been solid with less pressure, we might have seen a different pitcher
dewey – I think the logjam in the rotation had something to do with the demotion. Bello will be back more out of necessity than anything else, let’s see what happens with Sale and Kluber over the next few days. Sale’s performance tonight was concerning to say the least.
FPG – I’m telling you it’s going to take two full months for Sale to settle in and look like his old self. Last outing we got a glimpse but his control was bad tonight. Poor placement of pitches,not hitting his spots. That will come with more work. Give sale another 5 starts and expect ups and downs. He’s been off three years which is double normal TJ surgery time-off.
I think the pitching is something to get excited about other than Kluber. Bello simply needs more work. He has the talent. This is the best young group of pitchers the Red Sox have had in a long time.
Agreed. I have no hopes of winning anything this year, but it is nice to see some young arms with potential. It’s been a while.
Think a lot of Sale’s issues are just a lack of not pitching hardly at all for 2+ years. He’s still throwing mid 90’s and has the wipeout slider much of the time, the command and “losing” the slider sometimes are what has happened this year multiple times, which can never remember happening before with him.
It’s different than the Kluber issue, which is plain toast. Upper 80’s FB now and everything he’s thrown has just been flat. I see no chance of him improving this year and hopefully, the team moving on before he costs them more games.
Have to give the team credit for developing relievers, tho they are pig headed and attempt way to long trying to force them into starters. I mean Crawford and Winkowski mainly here. Mata will be another soon. Hate to say it but Whitlock as well, tho a terrific reliever.
FOR ONCE!
Really smart move! Let Bello get his groove thing groovin, then bring him back in a couple months to bump out one of the old vets!
Too the easy way out.
Yeah we can’t have that. Should have made a tougher different more complicated decision like removing Houck or Whitlock out of the rotation and into the bullpen.
why?? the BP has not been the problem so far this year
Randy – I think Gary was being facetious.
Houck sealed his spot up with that gem last start. Whitlock is thankful that Bello blew up. Still not convinced that he’ll be in the rotation all year. But Houck looks fantastic, might end up being their highest war pitcher.
SODOMOJO – Houck for me sealed his spot a long time ago. Just pure talent puts him at the head of the class. Add his pitbull mentality and you have a workhorse starter for the next decade.
I am hoping that Whitlock, Bello, and Houck are the Pedro, Schilling, Lowe of the future!
Then again, I am hoping that I win the lotter, too :p
Teach the kid how to pitch.
mlb – I think some of the new rules being tested this year aim to do just that, force teams to keep pitchers in the games longer by actually pitching instead of just throwing as hard as they can.
wasn’t this supposed to be a bridge year to see who works out?
Better to let Bello get innings as a starter at AAA then sitting in the bullpen in the majors
Could end up being your guys’ Matt Brash.
true
Makes sense for the short term. Bello is only 23 and he has been hurt. By the time he gets a few starts at Worcester under his belt it’s very possible, or even probable, that a current Red Sox starter will be hurt or ineffective, thus giving Bello another shot once he has some time to get his stuff together away from the bright lights.
I believe this is the consensus in Red Sox nation.
Wait. We’re all agreeing on this?
Somebody lock this topic! It’s broken!
DBH – Sorry but some of us think Bello would benefit more by facing ML batters as a reliever! Haha!
However we do all agree that when there’s a need for another starter, which will likely happen, Bello will be the first one to get the call.
Agreed on first call up. Can he play short?
Too soon? o,0
DBH – I’m sure Dalbec will work with Bello in Worcester, teaching him how to play shortstop.
Sycophant – Does Kluber ring a bell?
Kluber’s next on the chopping block
His stuff is nasty… just needs to work on location and executing pitches versus overthrowing. Have some patience…. he will be good.
Time to trade for Eduardo Rodriguez 😉
“B”’s are wild.
Why not just promote Drohan from Portland?
My wife thought Bello would be the savior of the Red Sox staff. Maybe next year.
We all know your wife doesn’t know what she’s talking about.
Someone fact check me on this… Sale 83 pitches 0 swings and misses?? Not good…
olm – It was indeed a disappointing performance for Sale, especially after his prior performance was so strong. Do you know he didn’t even have a strikeout tonight. He had 9 hits and a walk in 5 innings, that’s a 2.0 WHIP which is awful.
And yet another one-run loss, which as we all know is the manager’s fault when a team loses by one run. How bad is it when a .136-hitting Chang is pinch hit for by a .189-hitting Arroyo … comical. And with one out in the 9th and the tying run on second base, Casas hits for himself – no pinch hitter.
Also Turner showed his stupidity again, this time getting thrown out by a mile at 3B with nobody out.
On the bright side, Masa went 3-for-3 with a walk so he’s finally doing the Wade Boggs impersonation that I talked about so much before the season.
And Duran looked good again, ending the game with a hard line drive that was unfortunately right at the third baseman for the final out.
And yet another one-run loss, which as we all know is the manager’s fault when a team loses by one run. How bad is it when a .136-hitting Chang is pinch hit for by a .189-hitting Arroyo … comical. And with one out in the 9th and the tying run on second base, Casas hits for himself – no pinch hitter.
This loss isn’t on Cora this loss is on Sale and Turner. Sale for pathetic pitching performance 5 IP 9 H 1 BB O K and a whopping 2 swing strikes in 83 pitches. Unfortunately Sale is the one that should be going to the minors. And what the hell was Turner thinking for trying to take 3rd base?? It was just dumb base running by an established veteran.
As for pitching hitting for Chang, what better option were there? I didn’t see Story or Mondesi on the bench. Nope, the RS lost another 1 run game due to their lousy starting pitching. The RS had a 4-0 lead and any decent start from Sale and the Sox easily won this game.
lamar – I was watching the Yankee game last Saturday, and with the winning run in scoring position in the 9th inning the Yanks pinch hit with DJL … who of course won the game. THAT is how managerial strategy wins the close games. You leave at least one good hitter on the bench for crucial late-inning situations, and you don’t keep him on the bench for the whole game just because he was promised a day off.
I think one thing that everyone here agrees on, the Red Sox don’t have a deep lineup even though they’ve got only ONE guy on the IL (Mondesi doesn’t count, they knew he was injured when they acquired him).
It’s Cora’s choice to go with an 8-man pen instead of having an extra bench player.
It was Cora’s choice to not pinch hit McGuire, even though his hand was fine for hitting.
It was Cora’s choice to not pinch hit Ref, who was left on the bench.
And it was Cora’s choice to use FIVE guys in the game last night who are all batting less than .190
Sure Sale had a bad game, but 5 runs is not insurmountable. The ML median for runs per game is 4.52 so you can’t blame the loss on just the pitching.
Fever –
“lamar – I was watching the Yankee game last Saturday, and with the winning run in scoring position in the 9th inning the Yanks pinch hit with DJL … who of course won the game. THAT is how managerial strategy wins the close games. You leave at least one good hitter on the bench for crucial late-inning situations, and you don’t keep him on the bench for the whole game just because he was promised a day off.” – If Cora had a DJL on the bench they would have won the game too,
“‘I think one thing that everyone here agrees on, the Red Sox don’t have a deep lineup even though they’ve got only ONE guy on the IL (Mondesi doesn’t count, they knew he was injured when they acquired him).” – Mondesi is in fact the other guy
“It’s Cora’s choice to go with an 8-man pen instead of having an extra bench player.” – And why is that? You have 3 starters yet to throw for 6 innings and two starters that manage the feat once each.
“It was Cora’s choice to not pinch hit McGuire, even though his hand was fine for hitting”. – Says who? You? he was listed DTD for a reason.
“It was Cora’s choice to not pinch hit Ref, who was left on the bench.” – He brings in Ref, they tie the score and now it’s the top of 1oth and now you have to burn Arroyo to come in for Ref. So now you burned two players just to tie the game on the road. There is a reason Cora is the manager and were not.
“And it was Cora’s choice to use FIVE guys in the game last night who are all batting less than .190” – And what other options did he have? Ref wasn’t starting over Yoshida, Verdugo or Duran. Reese was DTD and wasn’t starting over Wong. So who else was gonna get the start? Again, Cora knows more than you do.
“Sure Sale had a bad game, but 5 runs is not insurmountable. The ML median for runs per game is 4.52 so you can’t blame the loss on just the pitching.” – This loss is ALL on pitching! The offense staked him to a 4-0 lead and by the 5th inning he not only tied up the game but gave up the lead.
Lamar – Actually, no Cora wouldn’t. He has a long history of refusing to bring in good hitters to pinch hit if he has already given the player a day off. Cora doesn’t care about winning in April, ever.
There’s an unwritten rule, fans don’t have the right to whine and moan about an injured player if it was public knowledge the player was injured when he was acquired. So Mondesi does not count as depth.
Cora has a well known reputation of pulling his starting pitchers early, especially in April because he wants them “well rested” for October. With proper pitching staff management, 7 relievers should be plenty. Twenty or so years ago a 10-man or 11-man pitching staff was the norm, and yet managers managed.
It was reported days ago that McGuire would be able to play yesterday. And guess what, he is starting tonight … which certainly means he could have pinch hit last night with the game on the line.
I knew that we were unlikely to get a repeat performance from his previous outing, but -0- K’s seems almost impossible for him. I’m wondering if he is tipping his pitches.
Hope E-Rod got his marriage straightened out, so he doesn’t have to miss a bunch of starts.
not following the red sox too closely, can somehow explain how they are managing to tread water with a rotation that shambolic and a line-up of devers and… not much else
Verdugo busting out Yoshida and turner getting hot and Jansen dominating
Bullpen has been above average and the offense is not just Devers. If you go by fangraphs an argument could be made that they have one of the better offenses in the AL. If the rotation settles down a bit then I doubt they’ll be competing for a playoff spot but they could play a spoiler role.
Dasit – There is more to this team than what meets the eyes. Even with a rotation that is shambolic there are positives from the rotation. Tanner Houck has been the best starter for our RS and even Whitlock has looked good at times. N. Pivetta’ 4.58 ERA but in each of 3 of his 4 starts he was 1 inning away from posting a quality start. Besides his clucker vs the Angels 5 IP 6ER he has thrown 15.2 innings and 4ER in his other starts. He does tend to give up too many walks. And our problem has been that Sale and Kluber both have been absolutely brutal to start the season.
While our offense does have some holes at the bottom. Our offense is better than most people expected it would be. Lead by Duvall’s ridiculous hot start before he was injured, .455 avg, .514 OBP 1.030 SLG 1.544 OPS, Verdugo’s .319 avg and .391 OBP, Devers 9 Hrs and 23 RBi, Turner’s .289 avg and .384 OBP, Yoshida finding his groove and starting to heat u, .400 avg .407 OBP .680 SLG 1.087 OPS over his last 25 abs and before that was hitting .294 over 35 abs and Reese McGuire’s surprisingly .361 avg and clutch hitting.
good stuff
thanks!
Dasit – And I forgot to mention our bullpen has been lights out of late and our closer Jansen has been spotless.
Give Sale 2 more outings like last night and he will break one of his hands acting like a spoiled toddler then spend the remainder of the season on the IL.
AC, take 4 solid innings from Sale. Get two innings from Kluber, then the pen every 6th day.
I don’t care about their egos–do they question the stupidity of the RS when they cash their checks.? Check your egos at the door boys and show what veterans are supposed to do!
@madmc44, after Sale having yet another melt down last night, I expect Bloom will begin looking for a bad deal swap somewhere
DBH – Why? Sale is just rusting from not pitching more than 16 games since 2019. And now add in the pitch clock which may or may not be part of the problem – but all of it is new territory for him. It may take another month or two before he gets right. As of right now he has no control or feel for his pitches.
I do believe that being rusty is a huge factor here. It is why I suggested moving him to the pen for a short while to give him time to work through it. Let him pitch an inning or 3 or days a week for a couple weeks.
Ort’s doing a nice job after Kluber’s gem.
It’s disgusting kenley had to be brought into the game after ort started the 9th with a 7 run lead. Time to abort ort.
Could you imagine being the top ranked arm in the Red Sox organization with nothing to prove in the minors anymore and being sent down to the minors rather than used in relief when Kaleb Ort exists on the team? What a confidence crusher.
Umm,,,I think they want him to stay stretched out so he can remain a starter if needed.