REPORT: Red Sox OPTION Brayan Bello to Triple-A Worcester
Mike Felger, Michael Holley and Andrew Callahan offer instant reaction following reports that the Red Sox have optioned Brayan Bello to Triple-A.
REPORT: Red Sox OPTION Brayan Bello to Triple-A Worcester originally appeared on NBC Sports Boston
Video Transcript
Yeah, first of all, just st- stop talking about bullpen and often, and, and starting games.
I always been a starter, and, when I'm, I've been successful as a starter, no one ask a question whether I, I have to be in the bullpen or, or, or starting games.
So just, starting from there, just stop that talk because it's not, it's not, it's just having, I, I'm just having a bad season.
That's, that's it.
It's not whether I'm, I'm a starter or I'm a, I'm a reliever.
It's just having a bad season.
But I, I, the, I, I think I can, I, I, I know that I can turn it around.
I always have, and I think I will.
Well- Again, that was through the translator.
Yeah, translator So, so you know it was, like, 70%- Yeah of how Bello really sounded.
What Bello really said was, "Go F yourself."
Yeah, "F you guys.
Just leave me alone."
"I'm a major leaguer.
I'm not going to the minors."
Right.
"F you."
Well, guess what happened shortly after that?
He was sent to the minors.
Brian Bello optioned to Triple-A Worcester after today's loss.
It's worth noting Bello signed a six-year, $55 million contract extension two years ago.
That's what happened today.
Mike Holly, your thoughts.
We may have lost this one.
We may have lost one.
I, I'm talking about big picture with Brian Bello.
And, and it's, and you know, he said, the translator said he's just having a bad season.
No, it's more than a bad season, man.
I, what an understatement.
You know, when the season, you know when the bad season started for Bello?
You know, go, a lot of people forget about this because this whole opener, is he gonna open or not?
If you go back to the playoff game, one of the least prepared starts I've ever seen, one of the worst, one of the most embarrassing starts in a playoff game, for the Boston Red Sox in the last 30 years, I'm not exaggerating.
Br- Bello last year in New York.
Yep.
So Bello last year in New York, embarrassing.
Bello this year, where you gotta have some joke opener start the first inning for you to, for t- to get you going?
You need a little appetizer out there?
You need a little sous chef before you start the meal?
I mean, look, man, it's not gonna work for Brian Bello in Boston.
It will work for him somewhere else, I think.
I think Boston has messed him up.
He is not n- this is not a good match for him.
It's not gonna work here.
Well, he, he's just the worst kind of guy, meaning he has some talent.
You know?
I, I, I think he's got good stuff.
Oh, he does.
He does.
And so there's nothing worse than talent that can't live up to it or has You know, talent's the hard part.
He's got the talent.
He doesn't have the make, he doesn't have the heart, doesn't have the balls, and that's the problem with Brian Bello, and those are just the worst kind of guys.
How about the decision to start him though, Mike?
'Cause it, you know- Yeah the numbers we'll show you in a second, but it's pretty clear what Brian Bello was this year when he got the ball in the first inning, or when he got the ball in the second inning.
The thought that they pushed him into this start, how do you feel about that?
Yeah, okay.
I, I, I can see what they're saying, 'cause I personally don't love the whole openers thing.
I don't like it.
y- you either, you either have a starting pitcher or you don't.
And so what they're saying is they don't have a starting pitcher.
So I think that what they were trying to get at, and I do agree with this, when Chad Tracy was saying, "Hey," we're going back and forth, "Hey, he's a starting pitcher."
Well, a starting pitcher should be able to go out there and get through, and kind of grind, grind through a first inning where you have some kind of doubt, some kind of struggles.
You said earlier in the highlights, you're walking the number nine hitter.
What?
Just throw the ball right It's the number nine hitter.
Throw the ball right down the middle and see what happens.
Take your chances, and let them hit the ball.
So I, I think mentally he's out of it, but I understand why the Red Sox would say, "You gotta start the game because you're one of our starting pitchers."
Makeup, it's all makeup.
The splits, as I mentioned here, this season are mind-boggling.
Bello, when he has an opener, he's going 25 and a third, and under one ERA, 22 strikeouts, three walks.
He's fine.
The other eight games when Bello actually starts the first inning, a 10.3 ERA- Come on, man in 35 and two thirds, with a whip well over two, 22 strikeouts, 21 walks.
Andrew Callahan joins us now from the Boston Herald.
Your thoughts on Brian Bello and today?
I mean, it's embarrassing.
It, it's just straight what it is, for Brian Bello, for Craig Breslow.
I mean, I think this whole ordeal encapsulates what we've been dealing with with Craig Breslow.
You go back to a player that he extended, that has failed to develop under his pitching coach, and is now being mismanaged by that manager.
It doesn't take anyone with anything more than a Twitter account to see those figures and go, "That guy needs a break in the first inning."
And I'm with Michael Holly, I don't like it.
They should not be catering to their five B starter who would be out of here if Garrett Crochet had been healthy and available.
But where they are right now with no margin for error, with nobody else available, you have to give him a break in the first inning because those numbers are so good.
The Red Sox looked at those numbers and said, "Nah, we'll throw him out there."
And then here's the worst part, as I'm watching at home, streaming on everyone's favorite service, NESN 360, those six runs go up in the first inning, shut the laptop.
It's over.
Yeah, it's done.
'Cause these are the run prevention Red Sox, and when they don't prevent runs, it's over.
Yeah, I'm with Felger that, in that I believe that Brian Bello, Callahan has a lot of talent.
Do you think that talent will be realized here, or do you think he's a guy who, you know, you know, maybe he's got to go to Kansas City, maybe he's got to go to Tampa, somewhere else?
you know, Oakland, or whatever they're called now, Sacramento, soon to be Vegas.
Go there, go to one of these markets where there's less scrutiny, and he can then do his thing.
Do you remember the first stamp of approval he got when he came up?
You know who that was from?
Pedro Martinez.
Pedro.
Pedro.
Yes, the changeup.
And look, his pitch mix, talking about Bello here, has been all over the place.
This season, you go back to last season, is it more cutter?
Is it gonna be more the sinker?
Where did the changeup go?
I don't know.
The bottom line is he is gonna do wonders for Felger's Brewers in about, I don't know, a couple of weeks here.
The Brewers.
Going out to hang out with Kyle Harrison, who suddenly- How did I forget them?
i- is pitching just with every gift from God- That's it possible.
But look, like yeah, he's got enough talent.
I think he needs to get out of the big market.
Maybe not the only one.
And the bottom line is the, the Red Sox have not been able to squeeze enough talent out of their young core, a- and that's really a big issue because they've asked that whole young core to carry the team this entire season.
Meanwhile, Craig Breslow went on EEI today, and it was far from a softball interview, as Breslow was peppered with questions about analytics.
Do you think Craig Breslow is underplaying- what the reality is with this team, or do you think he's being honest there?
Probably to some degree, Mike, right?
I mean, this comes up a lot because that's always been what Craig Breslow has leaned upon.
When you eliminate as much of the scouting staff as he did, you need to fill in the blanks somehow, and apparently that is with Carmine, their big modeling system.
And look, I am someone who delves into the numbers with baseball, so this is not an anti-analytics issue.
But the fact of the matter is, he just needs to understand that the things that he's worst at, the people management skills, even the PR skills, he needs to hone.
'Cause he's even said, "Oh, I get, I guess the guys need to know that I want to win, and I need to have connections with them."
So he needed to say, "Look, yes, the numbers are involved, but I've been in the clubhouse more just to talk to these guys as a player."
'Cause that, that c- that connection piece, that I'm a former player w- would you ever know that listening to Craig Breslow either in interviews or in talking to players?
No, you wouldn't, because it has taken over, either from a narrative standpoint or in the roster building, all numbers, numbers, numbers, numbers.
Mike, it doesn't sound like you believe it, though.
No.
You don't, you don't, you don't buy it?
No, I think it's absolutely a problem that they've And I, I don't blame Craig Breslow for it.
This is what John Henry wants.
And John Henry didn't fire all the s- I mean, sorry, Craig Breslow didn't fire all the scouts.
John Henry did.
And I, I know, like, Breslow did the execution, but this is the club that John Henry wants.
John Henry's always been super analytical.
Yeah.
And Theo was ahead of his time, had a nice balance compared to what baseball has now, which is just complete clones and, droids, and you know, th- that's who's running the game.
Theo was a little bit more of the balance.
But, John Henry's been a bean counter his entire life.
This is what John Henry wants.
And so this is what the club is.
I don't believe Craig Breslow one bit, but I don't think it's, you know, Breslow that is forcing the spreadsheets on everybody else.
It's Henry and the, the direction of the game.
Yeah.
I, I think you're right.
And, and what I don't understand, Mike and Callahan, is that John Henry wasn't like this before.
Yeah, you're right, Felger, he, he's always liked the numbers and really gotten into the analytics.
But for all the successful Red Sox teams, starting '04, '07, even, even in '18 with Alex Cora, these are guys who have a healthy respect for numbers and analytics, but also can mix in with s- some common sense, some grassroots baseball instincts.
And so why has he gone away from the instinctive guys and just really leaned into the analytics guys?
That has been the change for John Henry.
I, I know it's, it, the easy target, the symbol is Craig Breslow, but the real problem, we can get to the root of it, the problem is John Henry.
Well, yeah, right.
And Andrew, I think the reason is it's cheaper.
You know, people cost money.
Yeah.
Algorithms, you write the program and let it run, and I think it's, I think it's cost saving as much as anything.
Yeah, and look, I, I think what this really gets to too, 'cause we can talk about the analytics piece and what they're trying to replace, is just the management skills.
Like, whatever Craig Breslow's title is, Chief Baseball Officer, he's the general manager.
Does he seem like someone who is equipped to manage people, to handle egos and developments in the way that Alex Cora was, in the way that Theo Epstein was, even at 28, 29?
No.
No, they were not.
But even Chaim Bloom was better at this part, and that is the most underrated part of that job, is getting everyone going in the same direction.
And their solution, whether it's him or Henry, has just been if you're not going with this direction of just nu- led by the numbers, you're gone.
And where does that leave people who are upset?
Rafael Devers, he's in San Francisco.
Bryan Bello pitching the worst of his career at 27, should be his physical prime.
They don't know how to manage people in the clubhouse.
They don't know how to manage people on the staff.
And so now it's just them and their modeling and their numbers, and the Red Sox in last place.
