Tom E. Curran asked Jon Lester about Brayan Bello’s first start and Lester gave some encouraging words to the young prospect and mentions he had his own struggles when he was coming up in the majors.
Brayan Bello didn't have the best major league debut last week, but the fact that he was even pitching for the Boston Red Sox is a testament to his potential.
Baseball America released a midseason update of its Top 100 prospects list Monday and ranks the 23-year-old right-hander at No. 24 overall. For context, Bello was ranked 49th at the beginning of June and was 79th in May.
Bello began the 2022 season at Double-A Portland and was an absolute force, posting a 1.60 ERA with 42 strikeouts over 33.2 innings. He continued that success at Triple-A Worcester, striking out 72 batters in 51.1 innings with a 2.81 ERA in nine appearances.
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Bello's success earned him a call to the big leagues on July 6, and while the Tampa Bay Rays touched him for four runs on six hits in four innings, the Dominican Republic native flashed enough potential to earn another start against the Rays on Monday night.
"I saw a little bit of the highlights of his stuff the other night and it's crazy good," former Red Sox ace Jon Lester said recently of Bello. "So I'm sure he'll have some success and hopefully this next one goes well for him."
Four other Red Sox also landed in BA's Top 100, with highly-touted shortstop Marcelo Mayer leading the way at No. 14. Here are the five players and their rankings:
- Marcelo Mayer, SS (No. 14)
- Brayan Bello, SP (No. 24)
- Triston Casas, 1B (No. 29)
- Nick Yorke, 2B (No. 50)
- Ceddane Rafaela, OF (No. 84)
Casas and Yorke both slipped from their earlier rankings as they battle injuries -- Casas was at No. 18 and Yorke at No. 33 in BA's May 4 list -- while Rafaela is making his debut on the Top 100 amid an excellent season for Portland.
