Red Sox 26-Year-Old Starter Already Turning Heads in Spring Training

To some degree, Brayan Bello became the forgotten man in the Boston Red Sox's rotation during the offseason.

Bello is one of just two holdovers from last season, with the other being ace and Cy Young runner-up Garrett Crochet. It would be easy for him to get lost in the spring training shuffle with the arrivals of Ranger Suárez, Sonny Gray, and Johan Oviedo.

However, just a few days into spring training, Bello is actually generating a lot of the buzz we're hearing out of camp in Fort Myers, and all of it points to the idea that the 26-year-old could have another leap in his game after a productive year in 2025.

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What they're saying about Brayan Bello

Let's get caught up to speed on everything we've heard about Bello since spring training began on Tuesday in Fort Myers.

For one, the righty has added a curveball while trying to maintain his sweeper, at the request of pitching coach Andrew Bailey.

“Last year, I threw a sweeper and to lefties it was a little more of a curveball and to righties it was more like a sweeper,” Bello said through an interpreter, per Tim Healey of The Boston Globe. “So this offseason and during the spring training, I’m working to separate those two profiles and trying to to separate the curveball grip and a sweeper grip.”

We also had Gray, one of the most well-traveled star pitchers the game has today, giving Bello some exceptionally high praise on Thursday after watching him throw live to hitters.

“He’s gross. He’s gross. I came away with that impression," Gray said, per Gabrielle Starr of the Boston Herald. "That impression today was like, I'm gonna say crap, Holy crap, he's gross. … Sinker is disgusting.”

Finally, manager Alex Cora said Thursday that it seemed like Bello's changeup was "back," which would be a major development, as it was Bello's signature pitch when he first broke into the majors and has abandoned him at times.

For all the additions this rotation has seen, a sizable jump from the 2.5-WAR pitcher Bello was last season might be the biggest x-factor. It will be very exciting to watch his first few starts of the regular season.

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