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Chad Tracy, the interim manager for the Boston Red Sox, is off to a rocky start in his new role, as he struggles to build rapport with his players. Stepping into the shoes of Alex Cora, Tracy has already found himself at odds with the team, particularly with pitcher Brayan Bello.
In a game against the Toronto Blue Jays on Wednesday, Tracy made a controversial call by removing Bello from the mound after only 62 pitches. This decision came in the fourth inning of Boston’s 8-1 defeat, much to the visible displeasure of Bello, who shook his head in frustration when Tracy approached the mound to make the change.
The situation escalated when Tracy made the choice to pull Bello after the pitcher walked the ninth batter, putting a runner on first with two outs in a tight 3-1 game. Reliever Greg Weissert was brought in and promptly gave up a two-run homer to Ernie Clement on just his third pitch, exacerbating the situation.
“Obviously, I was upset,” Bello said through translator Carlos Villoria Benítez, per masslive.com. “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.”
Bello probably has some reason to be frustrated by the decision by his new manager, although the starting pitcher hasn’t done a whole lot to earn confidence from Tracy or Cora before him.
Bello has a terrible 9.12 ERA in 25 2/3 innings spanning six starts, and is among the worst pitchers in the sport entering May.
Pitching coach Andrew Bailey, who provided his input, defended the decision to pull Bello.
“I think wanting to keep the game there at 3-1 with a fully fresh bullpen was the way to go there,” Bailey said via Mass Live. “And knowing that we had a lot of well-rested relievers. We have a lot of faith in Bello, but we’ve got to win that game and thought that that was the best position — Trace and I were talking about it — set the team up for success. We thought was the best move possible.”
Boston is in free fall right now after losing ace Garrett Crochet, as he hit the injured list with shoulder inflammation.
After Cora’s firing, multiple players expressed disappointment with the decision, noting that the front office, including John Henry, did not meet with the players face-to-face about it.
With Tracy now leading the ship, they will have to rebound soon or things could get ugly.
The last-place Red Sox (12-19) will look to get things on track Friday when they open their series against the Astros in Boston.