Red Sox Have Brayan Bello Plan in Place for Phillies Game

The Boston Red Sox are still trying to get Brayan Bello fully back on track.

Apr 24, 2026; Baltimore, Maryland, USA; Boston Red Sox pitcher Brayan Bello (66) delivers during the third inning against the Baltimore Orioles at Oriole Park at Camden Yards. Mandatory Credit: Mitch Stringer-Imagn Images | Mitch Stringer-Imagn Images

The Boston Red Sox have a much-needed day off on Monday before they will face off against the suddenly red-hot Philadelphia Phillies to begin a three-game series at Fenway Park on Tuesday night.

When the Red Sox take the field on Tuesday, it sounds like the club's experiment with young starter Brayan Bello will continue. The 26-year-old struggled to kick off the season but had his best appearance of the campaign so far his last time out. Rather than starting Bello on May 5 against the Detroit Tigers, the Red Sox had him come in after an opener and he responded by pitching seven innings against a difficult Tigers lineup while allowing just one earned run and striking out seven batters.

The experiment worked that day and Boston will try it again on Tuesday against the Phillies. Red Sox interim manager Chad Tracy confirmed that an opener would be ahead of Bello ahead of the club's series finale against the Tampa Bay Rays on Sunday, as transcribed by Christopher Smith of MassLive.com.

The Red Sox Are Sticking With An Opener

Apr 29, 2026; Toronto, Ontario, CAN; Boston Red Sox starting pitcher Brayan Bello (66) smiles as he comes of the field against the Toronto Blue Jays during the first inning at Rogers Centre. Mandatory Credit: John E. Sokolowski-Imagn Images | John E. Sokolowski-Imagn Images

"We’ll have an opener in front of Bello. Don’t know who that’s going to be yet,” Tracy said. “We’ll talk about it after using the bullpen today," Tracy said.

When he's at his best, Bello can be a front-of-the-rotation starter. He showed that last year as he logged a 3.35 ERA and 124-to-59 strikeout-to-walk ratio in 166 2/3 innings pitched. Bello just wasn't as sharp to kick off the season. His last appearance against the Tigers was more in line with what Bello was doing in the second half of the 2025 season. Last year, Bello didn't really fully turn it on until June. In his final 19 outings of the season, he logged a 3.11 ERA in 115 2/3 innings pitched. Before that, he had a 3.91 ERA in his first nine appearances.

Of course, that isn't at the same level as his struggles this season. But hopefully, the Tigers game was a step in the right direction. The Red Sox will at least test on Tuesday if the opener strategy was the right call for Bello, or if it was a one-off. The Red Sox are loaded with pitching and soon enough Garrett Crochet will be back. Bello essentially is still pitching for his spot in the rotation, especially with Payton Tolle pitching well for the club. The opener strategy worked once and quieted the noise a bit. Hopefully, that continues on Tuesday.