Game 124: Blue Jays at Red Sox

It’s the answer you’ve all been waiting for: the new shortstop is Bobby Dalbec! How’s that for Xander Bogaerts insurance? Kidding aside, Bogaerts is banged up and for some reason Alex Cora doesn’t want Hernandez playing short tonight. Desperate times etc.

Brayan Bello is back in the majors to hopefully have a better go of things. Unlike Josh Winckowski, Bello has real promise in the majors as a starter. Through four starts and one relief appearance he has an 8.47 ERA against a 3.65 FIP. If you’ve seen his games you’ve seen the defense behind him. It hasn’t been pretty. And it’s a shame that the Dalbec Shortstop Experiment is happening tonight of all nights. Give the kid a break! He’s been striking out over 30% of batters in the minors (though just 17% in the majors so far) and that’s going to be part of the key to his success.

Bello is facing Jose Berrios who is having a bad year. Like, really bad. A5.35 ERA / 4.88 FIP for a guy who was a marquee starter before this season. What can you say? The Red Sox, if all their hitters were available, should be poised for a big night. Given (waves hands) everything that’s a tough case to make.

There’s still more than a month of baseball left and things have been ugly. But Bello is a bright spot. When you look for answers from the farm he’s one of them. As is Triston Casas. And he may be called up and struggle himself. But it’s better to work that out during a lost season. And who knows, you might get a surprise.