FORT MYERS, Fla. — Thanks to spring training rules, Brayan Bello’s first inning of 2026 sunk neither his outing nor the game, an 11-10 come-from-behind victory over the Toronto Blue Jays.
Red Sox manager Alex Cora initially pulled Bello after he struck out one of his first five batters and allowed four earned runs on three hits and a walk, and recorded one out.
But in these games that don’t count, pitchers may come and go as their managers please, and so after the Red Sox tied things up in the bottom of the first, Bello returned for a second chance. The righty’s second inning of work was more along the lines of what he and the Red Sox expect of him. He worked around Riley Tirotta’s first-pitch leadoff double and set the next three batters down in order with a strikeout, line-out and groundout. After only throwing 13 of 24 pitches for strikes in the top of the first, Bello needed 11 pitches to breeze through the second.
“I was more aggressive. I started attacking hitters more,” Bello said through team interpreter Carlos Villoria Benitez. “We worked on the things that we needed to work (on), and the most important thing is every pitch was there and I felt good. … I was able to get first-pitch strikes, which was the goal of the day.”
“I really liked the last three hitters,” Cora said. “He’s working on a few things, getting ahead, using the changeup. But he got hit around, and then he’s like, ‘OK let me pitch,’ and he was more aggressive the last three hitters. That’s something we’re going to take for the next one, and keep getting better.”
Bello led what he described as a “good outing” with his sinker (40%) and changeup (17%) on Sunday, and mixed in the cutter, four-seam fastball and sweeper. He even threw his new curveball twice, eliciting an surprising response from Blue Jays right-fielder Jesús Sánchez.
“It was a very good one, and he laughed as well, at the pitch,” Bello said. “I just threw the pitch and he laughed. … I don’t really know (why). I think that we both enjoy the game, we’re both happy to be here and we just shared that moment.”
Four years into his major league career, Bello, 26, feels the curveball will help him unlock a new level of his game.
“I’m gonna start throwing it more often,” Bello said of his new pitch. “Today I felt comfortable throwing it with two strikes and also to get a swing-and-miss. And I think that from now on that’s a pitch I’m going to rely on, and because I’m able to command it as well. … I feel like it’s been a little bit (of) a challenge facing lefties in the previous years, and I feel like with these two new pitches I’m able to compete a little bit better against lefties.”
Bello is coming off a career year: a 3.35 ERA – 89 points better than his previous best in 2023 – over 166 2/3 innings (29 games, 28 starts). The numbers, however, masked a behind-the-scenes struggle with his arsenal. He deployed five pitches in 2025, but as he honed two new ones, the changeup, his stalwart and perhaps most crucial weapon, became an unintended casualty. The result was a career-high innings pitched but over 200 fewer changeups than in each of his previous two seasons.
“Last year I was working on adding a cutter, a sweeper, so I lost the feeling for the changeup,” Bello said. “And this year I have both of those pitches locked in for me, so I was able to go back and work on the changeup.”
Bello and Cora were pleased with how the changeup played Sunday.
“I’m very happy because I think I was very consistent with it, and also it had a lot of depth, a lot of movement, and that’s one of things that I wanted to work, and I’ve been working, on the past few months,” Bello said. “Throwing to lefties, righties, and at any count, and I think today we were able to take a step forward with that pitch.”
If Bello was able to achieve that level of success last year without firm command of his changeup, imagine what he’ll be able to do this season. It’s easy to forget, too, that this righty who debuted when he was 23 and doesn’t turn 27 until May 17 is one of the longer-tenured pitchers on the staff. There have been growing pains and adjustments, both personally and professionally, but Bello feels everything is starting to come together.
“Last year I was battling with two or three pitches, I didn’t have my changeup, and I was able to have the season that I had,” Bello said. “I feel like this year for me, coming in camp feeling healthy, having the curveball and having the changeup back, which is one of my best pitches, I think I’m going to have a better season.
“Also I’m more experienced, more maturity, so I feel like for me, having that repertoire and adding the experience and maturity, I think that’s going to be the recipe for a good season.”
