FORT MYERS, Fla. — Rafael Devers recently said that he feels like he’s watching Pedro Martinez every time 24-year-old righty Brayan Bello pitches.
Martinez and Bello, both Dominican Republic natives, certainly share similarities with mid-to-upper-90s fastballs and devastating changeups. They also have some of the same mannerisms.
But there’s one distinct difference at this point. Bello doesn’t yet have the high strikeout rate that Martinez did. Bello averaged 7.6 strikeouts in his first full major league season last year. He has averaged 7.9 strikeouts per nine innings in his career so far. Martinez led the league in strikeouts per nine innings in five of seven seasons during his prime from 1997-2003 (age 25-31). During that stretch, he averaged 11.3 strikeouts per nine innings and had a 31.8% strikeout percentage.
Bello has been excellent at inducing groundballs. His 56.3% groundball percentage was in the 92nd percentile in the major leagues last year. But limiting contact and getting more swing and miss is important. He was in the 37th percentile in whiff percentage (24.4%) and 26th percentile in strikeout percentage (19.8%). Opponents batted .270 against him last year. He has a .283 batting average against in his 41 MLB appearances.
