Brayan Bello won’t pitch in either of the Red Sox’s two games with the Tampa Bay Rays in the Dominican Republic this weekend, but it’s his weekend all the same.
On Saturday afternoon, Bello sat between chief baseball officer Craig Breslow and translator Carlos Villoria Benitez at at Estadio Quisqueya Juan Marichal, and spoke about his six-year, $55 million contract extension.
The deal came to fruition midweek, but the Sox waited until they were in Santo Domingo to hold the presser. Doing so ensured that Bello was able to celebrate with his family, and truly soak in the magnitude of the moment. It’s the intersection of the young starting pitcher’s past, present, and future, his heritage and the journey he’s embarked upon, his birthplace and the organization he’s choosing to call home beyond the remainder of club control.
“The timing was perfect, right?” Alex Cora told reporters. “To have it here with his family, his trainers, his teammates, it means a lot. Everything we’ve thrown at him …he’s passed every obstacle. … He’s not afraid.”
Bello grew up in Las Galeras on the Samaná peninsula – as did Rafael Devers – several hours away from Santo Domingo and worlds away from Boston. But it was in Santo Domingo that Bello began the journey that led him to this point; he left home at only 15 years old, to train and fight to become the kind of player who makes sure his family is set for life. He’s only the second player the Red Sox have extended before reaching three years of service time since 2011.
Now, he’s someone young students at his old baseball academy will look up to, and he doesn’t take that lightly. “I’m very proud and excited for them to look up to me and make sure they know they can do it,” he told NESN’s Tom Caron during Saturday evening’s game.
The Red Sox were shaping Bello’s life long before he first put on the uniform, too. Pedro Martinez, the pitcher Bello grew up idolizing, has become his mentor. Bello has trained at the Hall of Famer’s home in the DR throughout each of the past two offseasons, and reported to spring training with a Martinez-approved slider. Bello is represented by Fern Cuza, who was David Ortiz’s agent during his playing career. Both Martinez and Ortiz are on hand for this weekend’s festivities, and threw out the ceremonial first pitch on Saturday.
“It’s an honor to be able to work out or share moments with Pedro,” Bello told reporters. “Every time he talks, (I) listen… I’m grateful for that.” Martinez is the one who truly taught him how to pitch, he said. Later that afternoon, the two sat together in the Quisqueya dugout, Martinez’s arm around Bello, who wore a Dominican flag around his shoulders.
Martinez feels a strong kinship with his protégé, who’s built like a young Martinez was early in his career. “We have the same body type,” Martinez said. The Los Angeles Dodgers famously decided that a young Martinez was too small and skinny to be a starter, and lived to regret it. A teenage Bello was once deemed too small and skinny, too.
Then there’s the fierce expression on Bello’s face when he’s pitching, not unlike the expression immortalized in photos of Martinez. “Every time I watch (Bello) pitch, I feel like I’m watching Pedro Martinez,” Rafael Devers told reporters.
Martinez was such an ace for Boston that fans used to plan their ticket purchases around his starting schedule. He believes Bello can become the kind of pitcher he was, or even greater. “I wish, I WISH I had the talent that Brayan Bello has, when I was coming up. He’s way more talented than I am,” he told the Herald.
Alex Cora agrees that Bello is just getting started. “We’re hoping he becomes the ace of this staff. It’s kind of a storybook story,” the manager said.
It’s a weekend laden with a jumble of emotions, but joy reigns supreme for the young pitcher.
“Me siento super contento,” Bello told reporters on Saturday afternoon. (“I feel super happy.”)
“I’m gonna give my 100% on the field and I can’t wait to wear this uniform for a long time,” Benitez translated for him.
Then, in English, Bello added, “Let’s go Red Sox.”