Bello vows to be better next year

BALTIMORE — With his first full big league season over, Brayan Bello is aiming to take the next step as a pitcher moving forward.

The Red Sox righthander’s late-season fade left him with solid but unspectacular numbers for the year: A 12-11 record, 4.24 ERA, 20 percent strikeout rate, and 7 percent walk rate over 28 starts and

157 innings. It is a performance that Bello sees as a building block but not a destination as he prepares to spend the offseason in the Dominican Republic, where he will mix in regular workouts (roughly every week or two) at the Sox’ Dominican Academy in addition to working out on his own.

“I don’t want to stop working,” Bello said through a translator. “We’re going to try to improve my body and also try to improve on the things that didn’t go well this year to try to be in a better shape and a better state overall when I report to spring training.”

Bello sees areas for improvement: He wants to continue to build strength to sustain his performance over the entirety of the season; he wants to continue to sharpen his slider into the east-west weapon that allows him to work (along with his elite sinker and changeup) to both edges of the plate; and he wants to hone his command of his arsenal, particularly his four-seamer, which is an excellent pitch at the top of the zone but gets hit hard when not precisely thrown.

“I’m still young,” Bello said. “I still think that I can improve a lot and that’s something I’m looking forward to in this offseason.”

Bello has made steady improvements throughout his professional career to emerge from an overlooked prospect out of the Dominican who signed for $25,000 as an 18year-old into a member of the rotation. That growth, combined with the pitcher’s current abilities, makes it likely that the Sox will at some point approach Bello about a potential long-term deal, perhaps as soon as this offseason after a new leader of baseball operations is in place.

Would Bello be interested in such a conversation as he prepares for 2024?

“That’s a good question. The door’s always open to talks. [The Sox] know that,” he said. “If they want to do something, my agent can obviously talk to them and bring me any offer. I’m open to it, obviously, but I’m not too [caught up] in that. I just let my agents handle the situation.”

Verdugo slides

For roughly half a season, Alex Verdugo had a compelling case as one of the top outfielders in the American League. He is no longer occupying those conversations.

In 17 games since Sept. 3, Verdugo — who was out of the lineup for Friday’s 3-0 win over the Orioles — is hitting .138/ .177/.190 with no homers, just one RBI, and three walks (all in one game) in 62 plate appearances. That awful stretch has crushed his numbers like an anvil, leaving him with a .265 average (his lowest in any of his five full big league seasons), .326 OBP (another low), and .424 slugging mark.

His OPS+ of 101 suggests a league-average hitter. Perhaps more disappointing, his year over year numbers have gone down in his time with the Red Sox through his age-27 season.

Verdugo continues to garner praise for his strong outfield play in right field, but his slump has played into the collapse of the Red Sox offense down the stretch.

“It’s not the end of the season that he was looking for or we were looking for,” Cora said.

Rafaela needs reps Ceddanne Rafaela

While has shown flashes of gamechanging defense in center field, particularly notable given the defensive limitations of Masataka Yoshida in left, Cora suggested it would be premature to project such a pairing for next season.

Cora pointed to both improvements by Yoshida and Rafaela’s need for further development as a hitter. The 23-yearold Rafaela is hitting .253/.294/.405 with four walks and 26 strikeouts in 85 plate appearances.

“Obviously, we don’t know what’s going to happen in the future. Ceddanne needs repetitions,” Cora said. “For how much we like him in center field, the offensive part of it, we still have to work. The chase percentage with two strikes, early in the count, all that stuff, going the other way, that’s part of the final product, the kind of things that we have to do for him to become an everyday player.”

Jansen’s season over

While closer Kenley Jansen has been available since returning from the COVID IL last weekend, after 17 days without entering a game, Cora decided not to use him Friday — and won’t again this year.

“If he goes out there and something happens, it’s on me,” said Cora. “We’re going to stay away from him.”

Jansen, who signed a twoyear, $32 million free-agent deal last winter, will finish with 29 saves in 33 opportunities and a number of career-worst numbers, including a 3.63 ERA and 1.28 WHIP. However, those numbers were inflated considerably by his efforts to pitch through injury and assorted health issues in September.