Brayan

Bello

Bello was pulled after 58 pitches, which would potentially keep him in the relief mix for the Wild Card opener on Tuesday. He gave up one run and posted a 22/3 K/BB over 18 2/3 innings in his final four appearances to finish what originally looked like a disastrous season with a 4.33 ERA in 116 1/3 innings.

It’s unclear how the Red Sox are going to handle the situation since they’re ostensibly locked into the second Wild Card spot heading into the playoffs next week. Patrick Sandoval was scheduled to start Sunday’s season finale and will presumably get the ball on Saturday instead, weather permitting. Jake Bennett, Payton Tolle and Brayan Bello are also in the mix to pitch as well. It’ll be Matthew Boyd and David Peterson most getting the ball for the Cubs during the twin bill with Justin Steele (elbow) in the mix to return from the injured list this weekend. There are a ton of variables that fantasy managers need to monitor with Boston facing inclement weather from roughly Friday evening through Sunday afternoon.

Bello had allowed two baserunners through three scoreless innings before giving up a solo homer to Jonathan Aranda to lead off the bottom of the fourth. He bounced back with four more scoreless frames, giving the Red Sox eight innings of one-run ball in what was his best outing of the season. The 27-year-old right-hander ends the day with a 4.49 ERA, 1.37 WHIP, and a 90/35 K/BB ratio across 112 1/3 innings. Saturday’s effort might have earned him another start before the end of the season as the team tries to keep its rotation fresh for the postseason.

Bello draws the starting assignment for Saturday’s game against the Rays with Payton Tolle apparently being skipped in the rotation in an effort to manage his workload and set up Boston’s rotation for the postseason. Obviously, Bello has had more success coming out of the bullpen as opposed to being used as a traditional starter. Still, this is a decent spot for fantasy purposes in pitcher-friendly Tropicana Field.

Bello will be available as a long man out of the pen tonight. The Red Sox will stick with a five-man rotation for now and start Patrick Sandoval, Jake Bennett and Sonny Gray against the Rangers next week.

Bello also walked two and struck out seven while throwing 60 percent of his pitches for strikes and posting a 12 percent swinging strike rate. Bello threw just 60 percent of his sinkers for strikes, and getting ahead with his fastballs has been a continuous issue for him. However, Bello’s sweeper was electric in this one, posting a 26 percent swinging strike rate and a 44 percent CSW. He’s never had marks that high while also throwing his sweeper over 20 percent of the time. It was a nice start for Bello, who could work in some relief capacity over the weekend as well.

It’ll be Bello’s first start since he was recalled just before the All-Star break. He since has a 2.95 ERA over 36 2/3 innings in 10 relief appearances, though eight of the 12 earned runs he’s allowed have come in his last two outings.

Bello gave up two walks and didn’t strike anyone out. He threw 94 pitches on Saturday, so the turnaround might’ve been a little quick. Until recently, he had one of the best ERAs among all relievers, but he’s now been hit hard twice in a row. He wasn’t that efficient in the outing before those either. Bello won’t pitch again until Sunday at the earliest, but fantasy managers might not want to rely on streaming him for ratios.

Bello gave up five hits, walked one and struck out two. He fell to 5-7 with the loss. Bello entered in the second inning with one out following an opener. He had been pitching well in August with a 1.72 ERA in five appearances this month entering play Saturday. Bello has a 4.85 ERA this year. He’s not currently scheduled for an upcoming appearance.

Bello gave up three hits, walked one and struck out three. He improved to 5-6 with the win. Bello was the bulk pitcher for Boston behind opener Alec Gamboa, who pitch 1 1/3 innings. Bello hasn’t technically started a game since June 4 against the Orioles, but he threw 76 pitches Monday, showing he’s still stretched out for a starter’s workload. He has a 4.69 ERA and isn’t lined up for another appearance currently.