One of the top prospects in all of baseball is Boston Red Sox pitcher Brayan Bello, and he impressed a team legend in Pedro Martinez.
After spending the majority of the past couple of seasons in Double-A Portland and Triple-A Worchester, Brayan Bello is set to play his first full season in the majors.
Bello is currently dealing with forearm soreness, but even if he does miss some time it won’t be long until he joins the Red Sox rotation.
On the surface, Bello posted a 2-8 record and a 4.74 E.R.A. in the13 games he appeared in the majors last year and struggled. In Double-A and Triple-A, however, he combined to post a 10-4 record and a 2.34 ERA with 129 strikeouts.
As a 23-year-old prospect, Bello has drawn some early comparisons to MLB Hall of Famer and former Red Sox pitcher Pedro Martinez.
In a recent chat with Gabrielle Starr from the Boston Herald, Martinez has taken this young pitcher under his wing and has been working with him. During the offseason, Martinez invited Bello to work with him back in their hometown in the Dominican Republic.
Red Sox: Pedro Martinez says prospect Brayan Bello can be better than him.
“The reason I work with him is, we have the same body type. He’s a little bit stronger at the same age,” the Hall of Famer concedes. And I think he is way more talented than I am,” says Martinez on Bello.
To conclude the 2022 MLB season, Bello provided six promising starts, six starts, recording a 2.59 ERA to go along with 31 strikeouts in 31 1/3 innings.
The Red Sox organization is hoping that the struggles are behind him and he is prepared to have a tremendous rookie campaign. Drawing comparisons to an all-time great like Martinez, and receiving that kind of praise early on has to be a great confidence boost going into the 2023 season.