Red Sox's Brayan Bello: Should join rotation early
Rotowire
Bello (shoulder) expects to be activated by the first or second week of April, Christopher Smith of MassLive.com reports.
Bello will open the regular season on the 15-day injured list and remain behind in Fort Myers when the Red Sox break camp. His IL stint can be backdated by as many as three days, so in theory the pitcher could be ready for the club's first home series against the Cardinals, which begins April 4. Boston opens the regular season with two road stops, first in Texas and then Baltimore.
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Red Sox's Brayan Bello: Set for bullpen Saturday
Rotowire
Bello (shoulder) is set to throw a bullpen session Saturday, Jen McCaffrey of The Athletic reports.
Bello will not be ready for Opening Day and will begin the 2025 regular season on the injured list. With Bello, Kutter Crawford (knee) and Lucas Giolito (hamstring) expected to open on the IL, Quinn Priester, Richard Fitts and Cooper Criswell are candidates to be part of the rotation in the early weeks of the regular season.
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Red Sox's Brayan Bello: Ruled out for Opening Day
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Red Sox manager Alex Cora said Tuesday that Bello (shoulder) will not be ready for Opening Day but is expected back sometime in April, Jen McCaffrey of The Athletic reports.
Cora confirmed that Bello will require a stint on the injured list due to right shoulder soreness, which cropped up at the start of camp. Bello has been throwing off a mound since the beginning of March and is trending in a good direction, but he simply needs more time to build up. Quinn Priester or Richard Fitts is expected to fill Bello's rotation spot to begin the season.
Red Sox's Brayan Bello: Opening Day looking unlikely
Rotowire
Manager Alex Cora said Saturday that Bello (shoulder) is still behind schedule but is progressing well, Rob Bradford of WEEI.com reports.
Bello began experiencing shoulder soreness early on in camp, and with just over two weeks left in spring training, it's becoming increasingly likely that he'll require a stint on the injured list to open the season. Should that be the case, Quinn Priester and Richard Fitts would be the leading candidates to fill the open spot in Boston's rotation.
Bello (shoulder) threw a bullpen session Friday, Ian Browne of MLB.com reports.
Bello threw approximately 30 pitches at about 70-to-75 percent intensity. The 25-year-old right-hander has been slowed by shoulder inflammation and is at the edge of having enough time to be ready for start of the regular season, March 27 in Texas. Unlike in 2024, when Bello was given the Opening Day start, that honor is expected to go to Garrett Crochet this season. As such, Bello could still be available at the back end of the rotation for the first week.
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Red Sox's Brayan Bello: Opening Day not guaranteed
Rotowire
Bello (shoulder) will throw another bullpen session Monday, and manager Alex Cora said the organization is "still shooting for him to be on the Opening Day roster, but obviously it's March 2 now," Ian Browne of MLB.com reports.
The right-hander was briefly shut down at the start of camp due to shoulder soreness, so he's a bit behind in his preparations for the start of the regular season. Bello still has more than four weeks to ramp up ahead of Opening Day and has a realistic chance to be available -- especially since he probably wouldn't be pitching in the first couple games of the season anyway -- but he may need a clean buildup the rest of the way to avoid an IL stint to begin the campaign.
Red Sox's Brayan Bello: Side session set for Friday
Rotowire
Bello (shoulder) will throw a bullpen session Friday, Christopher Smith of MassLive.com reports.
Bello has been slowed in camp by right shoulder soreness but has been throwing on flat ground without issue and will take the next step in his throwing progression Friday. The Red Sox remain optimistic that the right-hander has enough time to be ready for Opening Day, but Bello will have to continue showing progress without having any setbacks.
Red Sox's Brayan Bello: On track for start of season
Rotowire
Bello (shoulder) is expected to be ready for the start of the season, Peter Abraham of the Boston Globe reports.
This is a fluid situation, as Bello has been throwing from 90 feet and will need to avoid any setbacks, but he's at least more likely to be ready than teammate Kutter Crawford (knee), per Abraham's report. Lucas Giolito (elbow) is also expected to be ready for the start of the season.
Bello (shoulder) has extended his throwing program to 90 feet and will undergo a strength test Sunday, Christopher Smith of MassLive.com reports.
The right-hander was shut down briefly at the start of camp due to shoulder soreness, and he's still building up his arm strength before progressing to bullpen sessions. Bello's availability for the beginning of the regular season remains up in the air, and he may need to return to mound work soon to avoid a delayed start to the campaign.
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Red Sox's Brayan Bello: Not yet throwing bullpens
Rotowire
Bello (shoulder) isn't yet throwing bullpens and isn't likely to be ready to pitch in games for at least a week, Chris Cotillo of MassLive.com reports.
Bello was recently shut down due to shoulder soreness, and though he's since been able to resume throwing, he hasn't yet tossed a bullpen session. Manager Alex Cora hasn't ruled Bello out from being ready for Opening Day, instead saying, "We'll see how it goes next week" in reference to the hurler's outlook moving forward. The Red Sox are already experiencing rotation issues, as Kutter Crawford's Opening Day status is in doubt due to a knee injury and Lucas Giolito began camp a few days behind other pitchers as he builds up following the internal brace procedure he underwent last March.
Bello was shut down for a few days due to shoulder soreness but has resumed throwing, Christopher Smith of MassLive.com reports.
It's encouraging that the right-hander is already back to throwing, but any arm issues early in camp are a cause for at least mild concern. There's no indication that Bello's availability for the start of the regular season has been affected however, and Boston is counting on him to take a regular turn in a rotation that already features question marks in Walker Buehler and Lucas Giolito (elbow).
