Priester, Fitts vying to fill out rotation as Bello heals

BRADENTON, Fla. ¨C While Brayan Bello fights an uphill climb to open the season on the active roster as he works his way back from right shoulder inflammation, Red Sox manager Alex Cora has identified the two likeliest candidates to sub for Bello in the first turn or two through the rotation.

The first is Quinn Priester, the 2019 first-round Draft pick (18th overall) by the Pirates, the team he pitched against on Tuesday at LECOM Park. The Red Sox acquired Priester at the Trade Deadline last July 29 for fellow first-round prospect Nick Yorke.

The other is Richard Fitts, the big righty the Red Sox got as part of the package from the Yankees for Alex Verdugo in December 2023. Fitts had a run of impressive starts at the end of last season.

In the upcoming days, Cora plans on pairing up the two righties to pitch on the same day ¨C likely one in the Major League camp and the other on the back fields. That is a telling sign as it pertains to the rotation spot that would become available if Bello can¡¯t go.

Bello hasn¡¯t been declared out for the start of the season yet, but the calendar is working against him. So far, he has thrown two side sessions, and he will throw an up-and-down on Thursday. Bello still needs to throw at least one live batting practice session before pitching in a game.

¡°Hopefully he's ready. Let's put it this way,¡± said Cora: ¡°He'll be ready when he's ready. We¡¯re not going to throw him out there when he needs two more outings. We¡¯re going to be smart about it. He's very important for us. All of them are important for us. We¡¯ve just got to be careful.¡±

Kutter Crawford is certain to start the season on the injured list as he recovers from a right knee injury.

Garrett Crochet, Tanner Houck, Walker Buehler and Lucas Giolito will take the first four spots in some order. Priester and Fitts have time to earn a potential fifth spot out of camp.

¡°With Kutter down and Bello a little bit behind, there might be a spot there,¡± said Cora. ¡°So we split them up. There's other guys, too, that we're looking [at] who are stretched out, and we'll see what happens.¡±

Fitts has reached as high as 98 mph this spring. Priester is working to put away batters once he gets to two strikes.

"There¡¯s still many steps to go, obviously," said Priester, who allowed four hits and one run while striking out four and walking one over 2 2/3 innings against the Pirates on Tuesday. "I think the thing I can focus on is getting better with every single start, and then whatever happens is going to happen. And just put myself in the best position possible to help the team, whenever that is."

Devers debut delayed
Star slugger Rafael Devers was scheduled to play his first game of Spring Training on Wednesday, but it will be pushed back until this weekend at the earliest.

Devers spent the early weeks of camp continuing to strengthen his shoulders, which ailed him last season. He has been taking live batting practice in recent days, but he still doesn¡¯t feel caught up.

¡°He asked me for more live BPs, so we¡¯ll be good with that,¡± said Cora. ¡°We¡¯ll see where we are over the weekend, but timing-wise, he¡¯s off. I¡¯m not worried about him.¡±

Stomach bug spreading
The Red Sox are trying to contain a stomach bug that is starting to spread through the clubhouse. Top prospect Roman Anthony was scratched on Monday and actually took an Uber back to Fort Myers right after arriving in Sarasota. Marcelo Mayer, another member of Boston¡¯s vaunted big three of prospects, was supposed to start at shortstop on Tuesday, but he didn¡¯t make the trip after becoming ill.

First baseman Triston Casas was scratched from the lineup shortly before Tuesday¡¯s first pitch for the same reason. Utility player Romy Gonzalez is at least one player currently ill.

¡°Hopefully, we can stop this,¡± said Cora.