Packed houses, clutch performance, and dugout cheering up are the perfect recipe for any player to love to compete, especially for the starters who don’t take the field regularly. Max Scherzer asked for it last year when the Blue Jays manager tried to remove him from the mound. He countered with 5 SOs from his 5.2 innings. Red Sox starter Brayan Bello also tried the same stunt on Wednesday.

He showed public discontent when Boston’s interim manager, Chad Tracy, visited the mound. However, former Red Sox infielder Jeff Frye wonders what numbers Bello got to make such acts.

“DON’T EVER ACT LIKE THIS, KIDS!!! When the manager or coach comes out to get the ball, it’s not because he wants to; it’s because he feels he has to. I’m all for players wanting to compete, and he had his opportunity and didn’t execute! When these are your numbers, you don’t really argue, right? 2026 Regular Season G 6 W-L 1-4 ERA 9.12 IP 25.2 SO 17 WHIP 2.26,” Frye shared via X.

The drama unfolded after Bello completed the 3rd inning against the Jays on Wednesday. While he dominated the first two innings, going scoreless, he gave up and 3 runs in the third. The fans just recalled how Bello surrendered four runs over four innings against the Tigers. Tracy might have also recalled, and before making any more damage, Tracy visited the mound at Bello’s 62nd pitch.

When the broadcaster showed Tracy entering the field, Bello shaking his head in disbelief was also caught. “Obviously, I was upset,” Bello said. “I haven’t been able to pitch well in the past few starts. I haven’t been able to pitch deep into the games. That’s what I want. And today, it went that way as well. So, obviously, I was upset to come out of the game.”

So, Bello was eager to compete, but as Frye highlighted, the numbers were not on his side. He ended the night allowing 4 ERs from his 3.2 innings with 2 SOs, and currently stands with a 9.12 ERA and 1-4 record. So, according to Frye, even if the Red Sox manager didn’t want to remove Bello from the mound, he was forced to.

“I think wanting to keep the game there at 3-1 with a fully fresh bullpen was the way to go there,” pitching coach Andrew Bailey somewhat agrees with Frye’s view.

However, we wonder if Bello’s public discontent has any relation to how the Red Sox’s clubhouse reportedly reacted to Alex Cora’s firing. While team president Sam Kennedy justified the firing as “necessary,” the players might not seem on the same page. “Some of the best coaches in the world didn’t get a fair shot,” Trevor Story said. Moreover, according to Boston Globe’s Tim Healey, players were not involved in the entire change process.

Hence, the clubhouse is yet to recover from Cora’s firing, and Bello’s latest act just added to rumors regarding the Red Sox’s clubhouse environment.

Apart from Brayan Bello, the Red Sox have more to worry about

Concerns around Bello don’t end with how he is struggling at the mound. Deep down, his diminishing velocity is what is making things worse.

“Over the last two years, Bello’s fastball velocity has dipped from 95.7 mph to 93.6 to 91.7,” MLB insider Jeff Passan said. “In today’s game, a 92-mph fastball will be obliterated, and Bello learned that the hard way, with the w tagging him for five home runs among 13 hits he allowed two starts ago.”

So, a fastball below 92 mph deserves more attention, considering he also struggled last year. Bello finished 2025 with a 3.35 ERA, but blew up a few games terribly. For instance, in the AL Wild Card Game 2 last year, Bello lasted only 2.1 innings. He gave up a critical two-run home run to Ben Rice in the first inning, forcing an early bullpen entry that ultimately led to Boston’s elimination.

But do the Red Sox have any option to move away from Brayan Bello? Probably not right now. Garrett Crochet and Sonny Gray are both in the IL, which has already shrunk their rotation. So, we wonder if the only option left is to let Bello start the inning for a brief period before he gets pulled out.