Boston Red Sox pitcher Brayan Bello has a specific plan in place when he takes the mound in spring training.
Bello had his first spring start on Sunday against the Toronto Blue Jays, and although he allowed four hits and four earned runs over 1.1 innings, he isn’t paying attention to the numbers.
Instead, Bello said the focus is solely on throwing his changeup as he believes he’s rediscovered the pitch, which helped him have so much success.
“Just keep throwing the changeup,” Bello said on Sunday about his goals during his outings. “Be more consistent with it. Today, I was very happy because I think I was very consistent with it, and it also had a lot of depth, a lot of movement.
“That’s one of the things I wanted to work on, and I’ve been working on the past few months, throwing (the changeup) to righties and lefties and at any count. I think today, we were able to take a step forward with that pitch.”
Bello believes he lost his changeup last season as he tried to add a cutter and a sweeper.
However, to begin spring training, Bello believes his changeup is back, and he’s also added a curveball.
“Last year I was battling with two, three pitches,” Bello said. “I was able to have the season that I had. But I feel like this year for me, coming into camp feeling healthy, adding in the curveball and having the changeup back, which is one of my best pitches, I feel like I’m going to have a better season.
“Also, I’m more experienced, more mature, so having that repertoire and adding that experience again is going to be a recipe for a good season.”
If Bello has rediscovered his changeup, it should be good news for the Red Sox, as the right-hander will be a key part of the team’s success this season.
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