Sandoval could draw start in place of Early

Sandoval struck out three and walked one while throwing 40 of his 60 pitches for strikes. He sat 92.8 mph on his four-seam fastball, which is about a tick below where we saw him last, and he had just one whiff on nine swings on his changeup. That being said, he commanded the zone well with most of his six pitches and allowed an average exit velocity of 82.8 mph on balls in play. He hasn’t pitched in an MLB game since 2024, but it’s looking like he will be ready to join the Red Sox in some capacity around the All-Star break. However, MassLive’s Chris Cotillo reports that teams are already scouting Sandoval’s minor league appearances in the hopes of trading for him since Boston has a full rotation.

Sandoval was sitting in the low-to-mid 90’s with his fastball and threw 53 pitches in his latest rehab outing. He finished with one strikeout and also issued one walk. He’ll make his next rehab tune-up outing this weekend. He figures to be an option for Boston at some point around next month’s All-Star break.

Sandoval continues working his way back towards Boston’s pitching staff after a biceps issue stalled his rehabilitation process from elbow surgery. The 29-year-old southpaw hasn’t pitched in the majors since June 21, 2024. He likely remains a couple weeks away from factoring into the Red Sox’ pitching plans.

Sandoval struck out three and walked one, but the one hit he did allow was a solo home run to Nationals INF prospect Yohandy Morales. Sandoval is working his way back from last year’s Tommy John surgery and also biceps tightness from the middle of May. He threw 18 of his 33 pitches for strikes and is still in the early stages of his return.

Bello, 27, was optioned to Triple-A after forging an ugly 6.34 ERA over 61 innings over 12 appearances with Boston to open the year. The right-hander will likely make at least a couple of appearances in the minors in hopes that he can find the form that made him one of the better young starters in baseball over the last couple of seasons.

It qualifies as a step in the right direction for Sandoval, who walked one batter during the abbreviated 16-pitch outing. The 29-year-old southpaw figures to be an option for Boston’s rotation in a couple weeks after building up his pitch count and stamina. He dealt with a biceps issue earlier this spring that slowed down his return timeline from Tommy John surgery.

They’ll try to get to the root of the problem that Bello has with starting games as opposed to coming in after an opener. And probably other things, one imagine. Fantasy managers in all but the deepest leagues can likely cut ties with Bello at this point.

He’s getting closer. Sandoval figures to spend at least a few starts here if the Red Sox plan to stretch him out. He progressed quickly from a live batting practice session this past Saturday, so Boston must have liked what they saw. If Sandoval continues to show his rehab is going well, he could eventually bump in to Boston’s big-league rotation, but there’s probably no need to stash him in most fantasy leagues at the moment.

The 27-year-old hurler was roughed up for six runs in the first inning on Thursday’s start against the Orioles and that appears to have been the last straw. He holds a miserable 6.34 ERA and a 1.67 WHIP over 61 innings in 12 appearances with the Red Sox this season. Bello will attempt to work through his issues as a starter at the Triple-A level for the time being. Joe La Sorsa is expected to be added to the roster in his place on Friday once that deal becomes official.

Bello has had success behind openers, but the openers haven’t had success in front of him, which probably played a role in him working the first today. It turned into a miserable inning, with the defense contributing by giving away a couple of outs. Bello then cruised through the second, third and fourth before giving up a couple of runs in the ninth. Bello’s velocity was great today; his 96.6 mph average on his sinker was 1.9 mph better than usual this year. Still, he gave up 11 hard-hit balls anyway. He’s now 2-6 with a 6.34 ERA, but the Red Sox will probably throw him against the Rays next week anyway. They just might use an opener ahead of him.