Red Sox place Bello on the 15-day injured list with right lat tightness
The bad news just keeps coming for the Red Sox.
Prior to Wednesday’s game, the club announced right-hander Brayan Bello is being placed on the 15-day injured list with right lat tightness. To fill his spot on the roster, the club is recalling right-hander Zack Kelly from Triple-a.
The club’s Opening Day starter, Bello is among several Red Sox standouts who the team really can’t afford to be without. The 24-year-old recently signed a six-year contract extension that will keep him in Boston through the remainder of the decade, and through his first five starts Bello had posted a 3.04 ERA over 26.2 innings.
He, along with Tanner Houck, Kutter Crawford and Garrett Whitlock, also helped form what has been among the best starting rotations in baseball through the season’s first month. Entering Wednesday, the club’s starters collectively boasted a 1.80 ERA, the best mark in baseball by a significant margin.
Bello now joins fellow rotation-mates Lucas Giolito, Nick Pivetta and Whitlock on the shelf, along with fellow up-andcomer Triston Casas, who is expected to miss significant time with a fractured rib. All told, the Red Sox have 13 players on the injured list, and that doesn’t even include Tyler O’neill or Rob Refsnyder, who were both activated earlier this week, or Rafael Devers, who has missed 11 of Boston’s first 24 games due to various ailments.
— Mac Cerullo, Boston Herald
Yankees: Cashman speaks
Standing beneath the Major Deegan Expressway on Wednesday afternoon, Brian Cashman discussed Juan Soto’s exceptional start to his Yankees career.
The superstar, acquired from the Padres over the offseason, began the day hitting .319/.432/.538 with five home runs and 20 RBI over 24 games. Soto had been even better with runners in scoring position, slashing .500/.583⁄1.056 with three dingers and 17 RBI.
He’s a huge reason why the first-place Yankees were 16-8 despite some inconsistent and underachieving performances from others in the lineup.
“It’s been great,” Cashman said of Soto’s young Yankees career. “Listen, everybody knows he’s a Hall Fame caliber type player, right? He’s one of a kind that way. Only a few can be in that category. When you get those caliber or those types, you certainly hope that the transition is easy and it’s plug and play. And so far, the transition has been easy and has been plug and play.
“So we’re really thankful and grateful that he’s here and playing for us and he’s been a driving force for us. It feels like his personality fits the team and our fanbase. It’s been a good run, and he’s obviously helped us hit that win column quite often so far, thankfully.”
Cashman spoke at an event hosted by the Bronx Children’s Museum and The Players Alliance. With an assist from the Yankees as well, Bronx-born artist André Trenier unveiled murals featuring six living Black baseball legends. Commissioner Rob Manfred and current and former Yankees attended and/or were featured, including Aaron Judge, CC Sabathia, Dave Winfield, Willie Randolph and Curtis Granderson.
As Cashman mentioned, Yankees fans have quickly fallen for Soto. While the feeling appears mutual, there is still a chance that this ends up being a shortterm relationship.
Soto is an impending free agent. With Scott Boras as his agent, the right fielder is fully expected to test the open market. It wouldn’t be a shock to see the 25-yearold fetch more than $500 million.
Cashman reiterated that the Yankees and Soto have not discussed an extension.
If the Yankees were to retain Soto, the idea would be to have him and Judge form a lethal one-two punch for the foreseeable future. However, that hasn’t come to fruition just yet.
While Soto is off to a scorching start, Judge entered Wednesday’s game against the A’s with a .180/.315/.348 slash line, three homers and 11 RBI over 24 games.
The captain made some solid contact and picked up a double in Tuesday’s win, but Judge has been inconsistent at best so far.
— Gary Phillips, New York Daily News
Mets: Martinez due back Friday
After some tough at-bats on the West Coast, help finally appears to be on the way for the Mets. J.D. Martinez is expected to be activated Friday for the first game of a seven-game homestand.
Martinez went 1-for-4 with an RBI Tuesday night with Triple-a Syracuse The designated hitter, who signed with the Mets during the final week of spring training, will play one more minor league game Wednesday. Should he come out of the game without any soreness or setbacks, he’ll be in the lineup against the St. Louis Cardinals on Friday night at Citi Field.
The Mets will determine a tentative schedule for Martinez to be able to work him into games without overloading him right away.
— Abbey Mastracco, New York Daily News