Brayan Bello Experiencing Forearm Soreness
On Friday, the Boston Red Sox announced that their 23-year-old right-handed pitcher, Brayan Bello, will be sidelined until Monday with forearm soreness.
Forearm soreness is a common issue for pitchers, especially as they ramp up their workload to begin a season. If left untreated, it leads to pain and discomfort, affecting performance and potentially leading to other serious arm, shoulder, and elbow injuries.
Manager Alex Cora said Friday, “After his last bullpen, he felt soreness,” “He’s so important to the organization and what we’re trying to accomplish. He’ll be back on his throwing program Monday.”
Overall, it’s best to remain cautious and give him time to rest and recover before getting back out on the mound. There’s no point in pushing someone in the first few days of Spring Training, especially someone who’s as young as Bello.
What Does This Mean For The Team?
The news certainly isn’t ideal, but it could have been much worse. Despite the setback, it’s expected that Bello will be back on the mound within the next few days as he ramps up for the season. While he’s not officially penciled into starting rotation to begin the year, it’s pretty much a foregone conclusion, given his age and potential. I just can’t see them optioning him to AAA Worcester unless he just has an absolutely disastrous Spring.
Importance of Monitoring Innings
It’s not uncommon for pitchers who throw too many innings to suffer from shoulder problems or elbow inflammation. This is why they must think long and hard about how much their starting rotation will be used during each game throughout the season.
In a staff that features potential injury risks such as Corey Kluber, Chris Sale, and James Paxton, it’s important to keep them as fresh as possible throughout the year. If not, things could snowball fast and lead to an injury-plagued campaign similar to 2022. And nobody wants to see that again…
Need To Think Long Term With Bello
The young righty will be crucial to their rotation going into 2023 and beyond, as he’s the youngest starter on the staff by a good amount. It’s not uncommon for young hurlers to shrug off nagging injuries, so it’s important the medical staff monitors his progress to ensure he is recovering properly.
This means making sure that he doesn’t rush himself back into action too soon, as doing so could put him at risk for further injury. How many times have we seen a young starter light the world on fire just to be shut down due to arm or shoulder issues? Some recent examples include Dustin May, Walker Buehler, Casey Mize, and Noah Syndergaard, to name a few. And there’s a hell of a lot more (I always think back to Matt Harvey in 2016)…
This is why carefully managing how many bullets Bello uses during his starts will help him stay fresh during his first big league season. It’s not only in the best interest of Brayan, but it’s also in the best interest of the franchise going forward.
