Red Sox's Brayan Bello Demotion Was Easy Part, But What's Next?

The Boston Red Sox made a difficult, but correct decision, by officially demoting righty Brayan Bello down to Triple-A on June 5.

Bello hasn't been able to consistently give the Red Sox a chance to win this season. He was great behind an opener, but struggled as a starter before his demotion. This idea in itself made things tricky for the club even with the idea of an opener. Bello was great in the games he came in behind an opener, but the hurlers Boston put in front of him struggled. So much so that Boston actually went 1-3 in those games, despite Bello logging a 0.71 ERA this season in 25 1/3 innings behind an opener. As a starter, Bello has a 10.35 ERA in 35 2/3 innings pitched.

Boston made the right call with the demotion, but this doesn't mean that this is the end of Bello with the club. We'll see him again in the majors and hopefully on the sooner side if he can get it going down in Triple-A. This is a guy who had a 3.35 ERA in 29 appearances last season and was Boston's second-best pitcher behind Garrett Crochet. He's just 27 years old. Boston just has to get him back on track. So, with that being said, what's next?

Short Term

May 23, 2026; Boston, Massachusetts, USA; Boston Red Sox relief pitcher Brayan Bello (66) pitches during the third inning against the Minnesota Twins at Fenway Park. Mandatory Credit: Bob DeChiara-Imagn Images | Bob DeChiara-Imagn Images

First and foremost, Boston should promote No. 6 prospect Jake Bennett to take Bello's place in the rotation for the time being. He is viewed as the "leading candidate" to join the rotation. It would be the right decision. There's no reason to get cute with it. He has a 1.60 ERA down in the minors in nine starts and already has made two starts in the majors.

In the meantime, the idea of starter or coming in behind an opener should just end. Pick a lane and stick with. Even when Bello was coming in behind an opener, it wasn't a guarantee at the beginning of the week, it was always a topic and question what Boston was going to do. That should be done. Pick a lane and let him get comfortable in the role. Tommy Cassell of the Worcester T&G Sports reported that the expectation is that Bello will start for Triple-A Worcester on Thursday. This is the right call.

Long Term

Jun 4, 2026; Boston, Massachusetts, USA; Boston Red Sox starting pitcher Brayan Bello (66) pitches against the Baltimore Orioles during the first inning at Fenway Park. Mandatory Credit: Eric Canha-Imagn Images | Eric Canha-Imagn Images

Bello signed a six-year, $55 million deal with Boston that has three seasons left before a $21 million 2030 club option. Boston needs to prioritize getting Bello right because either he's going to be a long-term piece of this rotation, or the Red Sox will eventually need to look to the trade market for a potential suitor to avoid another sunk contract.

For Boston, the club entered the season seemingly with a surplus of pitching, but that won't always be the case. Sonny Gray has a mutual option for the 2027 season that surely won't be picked up. There's a world where Boston's rotation next season could be Garrett Crochet, Ranger Suárez, Brayan Bello, Connelly Early and Payton Tolle. It's important to note that Crochet, Suárez Early, and Tolle are all lefties. Bennett is as well. Boston needs a dependable righty as well and that could easily be Bello. But the club needs to get him back on track. That's what this period down in Triple-A is going to be all about. Is he that long-term right-handed piece? Or will the Red Sox need to look elsewhere?

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