19-05-2025
Red Sox' Brayan Bello off to strong start with family visa issues highlighted in Netflix series behind him
DETROIT — Anyone who watched the start of Brayan Bello's 2024 season could tell that something was amiss. The ultra-talented Red Sox starter struggled to a 5.16 ERA through his first 21 starts and even had his rotation turn skipped at one point in an effort to clear his head in late June.
Some wondered if Bello was putting too much pressure on himself to live up to the six-year, $55 million contract extension he signed during spring training. Others theorized that the lat injury that cost him a couple weeks in April and May might have had something to do with the struggles. It turns out there was something much deeper going on, as the public first found out last month, when the Netflix documentary, 'The Clubhouse' — which chronicled the 2024 Red Sox season — covered Bello's struggles with visa issues as he attempted to get his wife, Anabely de Bello, and two young children to the United States.
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In Episode 5 of the series, titled 'Boston, You're My Home,' Bello opened up for the first time about the impact of spending the entire season away from his family in the Dominican Republic. The revelation cast light not only into a deeply personal situation for the soon-to-be 26-year-old, but also an issue that plagues many major leaguers who play far away from home.
'It's not easy,' Red Sox manager Alex Cora said this week. 'It's part of the game that people don't see and I'm glad people can see it now and understand how it works. It's not because he didn't want them here. They couldn't get here.
'Having your family, it means a lot. It helps you, quote-unquote, detach yourself from what's going on, on the field, either if it's good or bad. Just being a regular dude, be a dad, be a husband. I think that's something he was missing.'
In the episode, both Bello and his wife, Anabely, discussed the mental toll of being separated for months at a time. Bello described it as 'very difficult' to not be able to hug his kids or wife for a long stretch. The problem, as explained in the documentary, was that while Bello was able to get a work visa to participate in his third major league season, there were complications getting the rest of the family stateside. The Bellos have a daughter, Bryanna, born in July 2023, and a son, Brayan Jr., born last August.
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'It was really tough,' Bello said Tuesday at Comerica Park (through translator Daveson Perez). 'When you go to a place and everything's new and your family is not there, it's hard. Especially for me last year, I went through a lot of ups and downs in the season. To be without them was tough. Eight, nine months without that support is hard.'
In one of the series' most poignant moments, Bello — in the middle of a period of prolonged struggles — is shown talking with Cora in the right-field corner at Fenway Park before a summer game. Cora, sensing that external factors were weighing on the talented pitcher, tells Bello, in Spanish, that he's there to listen if he ever wants to talk. Cora asks Bello, point-blank, if he misses his family, then jokes that he must miss his wife's cooking. Bello, in an emotional moment, chokes up while pacing around the warning track. Cora hugs him and tells him he loves him very much.
'It was great to get that support from everybody, but I think Alex supported me the most,' Bello said this week. 'I think it's just because he's Latino. He knows how it is. He probably knows somebody that has gone through a similar situation or maybe he has gone through a situation like that himself. I appreciate that support from him.'
Bello, who hails from Samaná in the Dominican Republic, was able to return to his home country for an exhibition series last March and while there, participated in a press conference to announce his extension. He went home for the birth of Brayan Jr. in August and spent the offseason on the island as well. The 2025 season will be different for the Bello family, and in a very positive way. The family will be together in Boston.
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'The process to get a guest visa in the Dominican Republic is a little complicated,' Bello said. 'It's a long process. We stuck with it and were able to get the visa.
'My wife, my two kids and a friend who is coming along, too.'
The early returns on Bello's 2025 have been encouraging. Though he walked five batters in 4 ⅔ innings last time out against the Rangers, he owns a 2.01 ERA (and hitters are batting just .228 against him) through four starts since returning from the IL. As he takes the mound Tuesday in Detroit, he'll do so with momentum behind him — and without the same family worries that plagued him a year ago.
'I don't want to put the reason for my struggles last year to be because I didn't have my family,' he said. 'I missed them, for sure, and I missed having them with me. At the end of the day, I'm a baseball player. What happens on the field, that's not an excuse.'
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Bello, an anime and video game enthusiast who tends to go about his business without revealing too much about his personal life to the public, was a surprise star of the Netflix series. It turns out that was a happy accident.
'They were really consistent in asking me if I wanted to share with them, interview with them,' he said. 'They really wanted my thoughts. I think that's the main reason. They were really persistent.
'I haven't seen the series yet,' Bello said. 'I'm waiting for my family to get here so we can all watch it together.'
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Read the original article on MassLive.
