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NEW YORK — All week, the Red Sox have discussed the possibility of bringing Brayan Bello back to the majors to take the rotation spot of the injured Ranger Suarez on Saturday against the Mets. It turns out Boston is going in another direction.
The Sox have tabbed left-hander Eduardo Rivera to start Saturday’s game as a call-up from Triple-A, sources confirmed. The outing will be Rivera’s second in the majors.
To clear a roster spot for Rivera, the Red Sox optioned infielder Brett Harris back to the WooSox.
When Suarez exited his start Sunday night in Anaheim with a left groin strain, the Red Sox were hoping he’d feel good enough to avoid the injured list and make his next start. By Thursday, it was clear Suarez hadn’t progressed as well as the club had hoped, so he went on the injured list. That left an opening in the rotation Saturday.
Bello, who has a 4.34 ERA and 22-to-4 strikeout-to-walk ratio in four starts (18 ⅔ innings) since being demoted to Worcester in early June, was held out of the WooSox’ rotation all week after making his last start in Syracuse on July 1. He is slated to return to the mound Saturday at Polar Park. Late this week, sources around the Red Sox signaled a hesitancy to disrupt Bello’s work and progression during his reset at Triple-A to fill a short-term need at the big league level. Thus, Rivera will get the chance instead.
Rivera, a 6-foot-7, 237-lb. southpaw from Puerto Rico, was called into emergency duty, straight from Double-A, for his major league debut on April 22 in relief against the Yankees and impressed. He allowed one hit and struck out three batters in 3 ⅓ scoreless innings before being sent down to Triple-A. With the WooSox, Rivera owns a 2.84 ERA and 46 strikeouts in 38 innings over 20 games (two starts). He’s ranked the No. 18 prospect in Boston’s system, according to SoxProspects.
Rivera won’t be able to give the Red Sox a traditional start Saturday as he hasn’t recorded more than seven outs in an outing since May 7. He last pitched Wednesday in Worcester and needed 29 pitches to get through 2 ⅓ innings. Before that was a 25-pitch outing on July 5 that followed a 32-pitch outing three days prior. The Red Sox will likely try to get two or three innings out of Rivera as an opener with Ryan Watson and Jovani Morán serving as potential multi-inning options behind him in a bullpen game.
Bello had a 6.34 ERA in 61 big league innings before being demoted on June 4. He logged a 10.35 ERA in 10 starts while pitching much better (0.71 ERA in 25 ⅓ innings) in four games following an opener. Most of Bello’s struggles came in the first inning, in which he allowed 15 runs and 19 hits in eight frames.
Harris was acquired in a minor trade with the Athletics last week and was called up Thursday to take Suarez’s roster spot. He appeared in one game as the Red Sox carried an extra position player in the wake of Willson Contreras’ suspension. Boston will go back to a three-man bench Saturday.
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