Red Sox Links: Brayan Bello Down, Yu Chang Out

Why did Brayan Bello get demoted to Worcester yesterday? The short answer is: because someone had to get demoted to Worcester yesterday. The Red Sox bullpen was in desperate need for reinforcements; they weren’t ready to bail on veterans like Sale and Kluber, Whitlock and Houck need a chance to stick as starters for a while, and Nick Pivetta is Nick Pivetta. (Alex Speier, Boston Globe)

Will there be a trade to free up some room on the pitching staff? Over at the Athletic, one former failed GM speculates that the Red Sox would listen to offers on Tanner Houck. (Jim Bowden, The Athletic)

Just when Yu Chang was solidifying the infield with a strong glove and good pop, he went down last night with some kind of injury to the hand or wrist. There’s no diagnosis yet, but it didn’t look great. (Chris Cotillo, MassLive)

Alex Cora got thrown out of the game after the game ended last night, which has some real “you can’t fire me, I quit!” vibes. Needless to say, the Red Sox weren’t happy with umpire Junior Valentine’s strike zone. (Greg Dudek, NESN)

Early on, there appear to be a couple of victories for the Red Sox player development team in Jarren Duran, Shane Drohan, and others. Sox farm director Brian Abraham sat down for an interview and discussed the process of turning prospects into big leaguers. (Chad Jennings, The Athletic)

Christian Vazquez has an exact replica of Fenway’s 2018 World Series Championship banner hanging in his house. Don’t worry: he didn’t steal it for an attempted ransom scheme like those jabronies tried to do with the division championship banner a few years back. (Christopher Smith, MassLive)