There's little in the game of baseball to match the excitement of a star pitching prospect making his major league debut.
As much as we might be excited to see Rafael Devers or Andrew Benintendi or Jarren Duran make their first starts, they don't dominate a particular game the way a pitcher can. A position player might only get three plate appearances in a game, and may not have to make a single play in the field. But a starting pitcher is going to be on the field for five innings or more, throwing 90 or so pitches.
Think about the anticipation that surrounded Stephen Strasburg's debut with the Washington Nationals 11 years ago. Or Dwight Gooden in the 1980s.
For the Red Sox, those moments have been few and far between over the last 15 or so years -- which has been a problem for the franchise. Most of their quality pitching has arrived at Fenway either through free agency or trade.
It's likely nothing will top the amount of anticipation that surrounded Roger Clemens' first game with the Red Sox. On a misty night in Cleveland in May of 1984, Clemens allowed 11 hits and five runs in 5.2 innings pitched, providing no evidence that he would go on to become a seven-time Cy Young award-winner and the winningest righthander of the post-expansion era.
Other times, there's great hype over someone who doesn't pan out. It may seem almost quaint to recall it now, but there was an air of expectation that followed the arrival of Henry Owens in 2015. No one could have known that his major league career would be over the following year after just 34 big league appearances.
All of which is to say that things are not always as they seem at the beginning. Some pitchers fulfill potential, while others don't. Still, others arrive with little fanfare and become major contributors.
It's impossible to know how things will turn for Brayan Bello, who will make his first major league start Wednesday night at Tampa Bay. The avalanche of injuries that have hit the Red Sox rotation in the last few weeks has probably sped up his timetable to the big leagues. But with a 6-2 record and a 2.81 ERA in nine starts at Triple A, Bello has convinced the Sox he's ready -- for a spot start, anyway.
"From everything I hear, stuff-wise, he's been outstanding,'' said Alex Cora. "But it's not only that. It's pitchability. Everything they've mapped out for him -- use your fastball in this place, or work on this pitch, try to do this in this outing -- he's been great. From my end, I think it's more the individual, the kid. I saw him in spring training, pretty solid. He understood the situation, went down (to the minors) and attacked in the right way.
"Everybody that has been in Worcester, from our end, for a game or two, when they come back, the reports are like, 'This kid is really good, really good.'
Thanks to the Prospect Industrial Complex, the average fan is well aware of Bello and his potential. That wasn't true as recently as 15 years ago, when Cora was a player in Boston and someone like Clay Buchholz was being introduced.
"We get excited about the players, especially in this region,'' said Cora. "It seems like they put these kids way up there (on a pedestal). Let's chill (Wednesday), let him enjoy it. Whatever happens, happens. This kid is going to be a big part of this organization for a long, long time. But (Wednesday) is about just going out there and being a big leaguer. If being a big leaguer means going five (innings) and no runs, so be it. If it's three and he gives up seven, so be, it, too.''
Last September, he sat in the same spot when the Red Sox had all of their award-winners from the minors in town -- Bello was named Starting Pitcher of the Year -- and Tuesday, sitting in the exact same spot, he appeared relaxed and confident. Without appearing cocky, he said he felt ready to take the next step, and no, he wasn't surprised that it was happening now.
Bello has a close relationship with Red Sox great and fellow native of the Dominican Republic Pedro Martinez, who has already advised him that the mound is the same distance from the plate as it's been at each of his minor league stops. The intended message: don't treat the surroundings or hitters any differently. And trust your stuff, which is elite.
There's reason for optimism. Bello has both the poise and stuff to compete at the big league level. It's highly unlikely he has the kind of career that Clemens had, but there's a pretty good shot he'll have a lot more success than Owens, too.
For now, however, it's all unknown. And that's part of the charm -- to project what you might see, now and into the future.
"With this guy,'' said Cora, "I understand (the hype). We've seen it. Everybody has seen the development. Everybody's excited. But at the end of the day, we've got to go out there and perform. Just enjoy it first, let him be, see what happens and we'll go with his career.''