The Red Sox’s performance today was similar to my dog’s now that the weather is in the 80s. They were around, but they mostly did nothing, and the stuff that they did was a complete mess (My dog drips water all over the place when she drinks.)
Is Brayan Bello’s story over? He had two solid performances working after an opener, but started Sunday’s game from the dugout. It went poorly — seven runs over five innings — and I can’t shake the flaws that I see in his game. His sinker is good. It’s got good velocity
and a sound movement profile. After that, there’s nothing else. That showed up in a big way on Sunday.
Bello was wild from the jump. He left a cutter over the plate with two strikes to Austin Riley that went for a three-run home run, and the Braves were off and running. In the second inning, the bases were loaded before Bello recorded an out, and Drake Baldwin came to the plate. The first pitch was a curveball that was called a ball. The second was a changeup that Baldwin jumped out of his shoes to swing at. With the bases loaded and nobody out, hitters look for fastballs to drive. Baldwin showed his hand by swinging at the changeup, and Bello wisely stayed away from his fastball. The issue, however, is that he can’t throw anything else for strikes, and the stuff isn’t good enough to get hitters to expand. The count went to 3-1, and Bello had no choice but to nibble with his fastball. He missed, Baldwin walked, and the Braves grabbed two more runs in the inning. I will say, the first pitch curveball was executed for a strike, but the ump missed the call, and Narvaez didn’t challenge. Ahead 0-1 changes the at-bat, but he still needs to find a way to escape at-bats, and he doesn’t have that.
Elsewhere, the offense was lethargic once again. The only run came in the ninth inning against the mop-up man. There were some hard-hit balls directly to outfielders, but when Grant Holmes throws six shutout innings, something is wrong. On to Kansas City for a series against the ice-cold Royals.
Three Studs
Ceddanne Rafaela
Rafaela was 1-3 with a walk at the plate, but it’s his glove that puts him in the studs today. Every time a ball is hit to center field, he catches it. He made a highlight reel catch in the eighth and had a few others that he made look easy. He’s fun to watch.
Ryan Watson
Saved the pen. From what? Who knows. But he saved them.
Newcastle United
With their 3-1 victory over West Ham, my beloved Tottenham Hotspur Football Club needs just one point from their next two matches to avoid relegation. COYS.
Three Duds
Brayan Bello
See above.
Mother Nature
It randomly started pouring rain to the point where the tarp was on the field for about half an hour. I’m not mad that it rained. I’m mad that it didn’t rain long enough to call the game after six innings. Do better, Mother Nature.
The Offense As A Whole
1 run? In this economy?
