The Boston Red Sox are racking up injuries as fast as wins. The team announced Wednesday that it has placed its 13th player of the season on the injured list.
Not only a 13th player, but a stunning fourth member of the ballclub’s starting pitching staff. The Boston Red Sox already have Lucas Giolito, Nick Pivetta, and Garrett Whitlock on the IL, but those three will have to make room for one of the team’s young pitching stars. Lat tightness could end up costing Bello nearly two months.
The latest Boston Red Sox player to fall to injury is starting pitcher Brayan Bello, who is 3-1 with a 3.04 ERA on the season. Bello went on the 15-day injured list due to right lat tightness. Pitcher Zack Kelly was called up from Triple-A Worchester.
Boston Red Sox Starting Staff Resembles a M*A*S*H Unit
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The loss of Bello leaves the Boston Red Sox in a serious injury bind — at least, more serious than the desperate situation the team was already in. Giolito is lost for the year after undergoing elbow surgery in March, while Pivetta is dealing with a right elbow flexor strain and Whitlock went on the IL last week with a oblique strain.
With Bello’s departure, the Boston Red Sox currently list just four starting pitchers: Tanner Houck, Cooper Criswell, Kutter Crawford, and Josh Winckowski. The team has also suffered a number of key offensive injuries, with Trevor Story out for the year, first baseman Triston Casas going on the IL with a rib fracture on Tuesday, and second baseman Vaughn Grissom still recovering from a strained hamstring suffered in spring training.
In spite of this, the Boston Red Sox remain in the thick of the fight in the ultra-competitive American League East. Beantown enters Wednesday’s games with a 13-11 record, three games behind the division-leading New York Yankees.
Kelly, who replaces Bello on the active roster, is 1-0 with a 3.91 ERA in 21 career relief appearances with the Boston Red Sox over 2022-23. At Triple-A, he has yet to be scored on through nine innings over six appearances.
On the plus side, outfielder Tyler O’Neill returned from the 7-day IL on Tuesday after fully recovering from a concussion suffered in a game last week. O’Neill, in his first season with the Boston Red Sox after six years with the St. Louis Cardinals, is hitting .308 with seven homers this season. He went 1-for-4 on Tuesday.
Bello a Star in the Making for Boston Red Sox
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The Boston Red Sox locked up Bello in early March with a six-year contract extension worth $55 million; that contract includes a club option for a seventh season at $21 million. The 24-year-old was showing solid progression over his three MLB seasons to date. As a rookie in 2022, he went 2-8 with a 4.71 ERA. Last year, he was 12-11 with a 4.24 ERA over 28 starts.
Bello apparently suffered the lat injury in his fifth MLB start of this season last Friday against the Pittsburgh Pirates. Bello tossed six scoreless innings, allowing just one hit, in an 8-1 victory. He had been scheduled to start against the Cleveland Guardians on Thursday. The team has not yet announced a replacement starter.
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Tom Carothers is a sportswriter with more than 20 years of experience covering sports at the high school, collegiate, and professional levels. Still longing for the return of his Minnesota North Stars, he has a high pain tolerance as a big fan of the Chicago Cubs, Cleveland Browns, and Tottenham Hotspur.
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