What Red Sox' Alex Cora, Brayan Bello talked about in dugout after last start
Red Sox righty Brayan Bello, who has pitched fewer than five innings in each of his past four starts — will be on the mound for the series finale vs. the Brewers on Wednesday.
First pitch is at 1:10 p.m. from American Family Field. Boston (27-30), losers of four straight games, will try to avoid a three-game sweep.
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Bello has pitched poorly this season. All his expected numbers are bad. He has a 5.50 expected ERA and 4.88 FIP (compared to an actual 4.08 ERA) in seven starts. He has a .302 expected batting average (.294 actual batting average).
He's simply not missing bats with 30 of the 40 hits against him being singles.
He has just a 19.9% whiff percentage, ranking in the 15th percentile among major leaguers, per Baseball Savant. He's in the 17th percentile in strikeout percentage (16.9%).
His chase percentage (22%) is in the fifth percentile while his walk percentage (12.5%) is in the 11th percentile.
Bello had an extended conversation with manager Alex Cora in the dugout after he lasted only four innings in his last start Friday vs. the Orioles. It was longer than a starter typically speaks to the manager following a start.
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'It wasn't anything private or anything like that,' Bello said through translator Daveson Perez. 'We were just talking about the hitters — that a lot of guys were fouling pitches off. Just little ways that I can get better."
Cora pushed Eduardo Rodriguez as a young starting pitcher in 2018-19. It feels like he's doing something similar with Bello right now.
'We're always talking together,' Bello said. 'Before the game (Friday), he was hyping me up. We were talking a little bit in the dugout. Thankfully, we have a really good relationship. We're always talking.'
As of now, Bello doesn't have a great feel for his changeup - which always has been considered his best secondary pitch. He threw it only 11 times vs. the Orioles.
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He's going with his sinker/slider combination a lot and using the slider when he gets ahead as he tries to put away batters.
'It's just a pitch that's really good right now,' Bello said about the slider. 'It's really working. It works to righties. When it's well located, it works well to lefties as well. And it's also just a pitch that helps me get outs. Right now, my changeup is like a work in progress. It's like 60-70% of where I want it to be. So I'm using the slider a little more. And also, the slider is a pitch I worked on a lot last year. So if I worked on it so hard, I've got to throw it.'
Opponents are batting .227 against his slider. But they have a .282 expected batting average, .500 slugging percentage and .657 expected slugging percentage against it, per Baseball Savant (which identifies the pitch as a sweeper),
Opponents are batting .257 with a .344 expected batting average, .371 slugging percentage and .492 expected slugging percentage against his changeup.
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His sinker is getting beat up (.351 batting average, .305 expected batting average, .474 slugging percentage, .403 expected slugging percentage).
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