How Brayan Bello Fared in First Triple-A Start

John E&period; Sokolowski-Imagn

How Brayan Bello Fared in First Triple-A Start

Originally posted on Athlon Sports | By Ezra Lombardi | Last updated Jun 14, 2026 11:31 AM ET

The Boston Red Sox gave Brayan Bello over a week to reset following his last disastrous outing on June 4th.

In what became the final straw for the club to demote their struggling starter to Triple-A, Bello allowed seven hits and eight earned runs while walking three and hitting a batter in 5.0 innings against the Baltimore Orioles. After the game, the 27-year-old was adamant when speaking to the media that he is both a starter and a big leaguer.

Having operated well behind an opener (0.71 ERA in four games), it felt inexplicable that Bello was one of the league's worst pitchers when starting (10.35 ERA in eight starts). To recapture the form that earned him a six-year, $55 million extension in 2024 and to provide some stability to the rotation, Boston made the tough but necessary decision to send him down to the minor leagues.

According to Craig Breslow, an important part of the equation for Bello's reset is to "fall in love with baseball all over again."

Bello, who wears his emotions on his sleeve, took the news hard, admitting through a translator that he "shed some tears" when he heard he wouldn't be with the Red Sox.

Brayan Bello admits he shed some tears after getting the news of his demotion:

“When I got the unfortunate news, I shed some tears, got a little emotional because, like I said before, I have so much love and passion for this game.“

: @tommycassell44 pic.twitter.com/rwCjnXJdbQ
— Tyler Milliken (@tylermilliken_) June 7, 2026

As Breslow indicates, building up confidence will be a crucial part of the Triple-A stint. But of course, it will also be an opportunity to work on his stuff and dial it in with much lower stakes.

He got his first opportunity to do so on Saturday as the Worcester Red Sox traveled to New York to take on the Rochester Red Wings. Bello was originally slated to pitch on Thursday and went through his full warm up before the game was postponed due to rain.

Bello threw 76 pitches over four innings of work, allowing two earned runs, five hits, and no walks. He struck out five, with 11 swings and misses.

Brayan Bello’s first start with the WooSox:

4 IP - 5 Hits - 2 ER/R - 5 K - 0 BB - 76 Pitches/46 Strikes - 11 Whiffs

Tossed a 1-2-3 first inning. 44.7% Sinker usage. Cutter right behind that at 26.3%. Changeup was 3rd at 11.8. Sweeper, 4SFB, and Curveball were used sparingly. pic.twitter.com/q7Pp4kyklN
— Tyler Milliken (@tylermilliken_) June 14, 2026

He started strong, delivering a perfect 1-2-3 first inning with a strikeout, groundout, and flyout. While he was less sharp for the rest of his day, it's a good sign to see a dominant first inning for Bello, who held a 16.88 ERA in the first inning this season.

Rochester tallied a run in both the second and third frames against Bello, running his pitch count up after the strong start. But he was able to settle in for a scoreless fourth inning, working around a base hit to punch out his final batter and bookend the day with strikeouts.

While it was a flawed outing, it was encouraging to see him pound the zone early in the first, walk no one, and then lean on swing and miss stuff to get out of jams later in the outing. There will still be plenty of work to be done for Bello to earn his spot back in the rotation, but it was not a bad start.

This article first appeared on Athlon Sports and was syndicated with permission.

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