Alex Cora Reveals Workload Plans For Key Red Sox Pitchers

Alex Cora has received plenty of durability atop the Boston Red Sox rotation. He’ll look to keep riding those workhorses into the postseason.

Cora was asked during Wednesday’s weekly interview on “WEEI Afternoons” if the Red Sox will enforce any “load management” restrictions on Brayan Bello or Lucas Giolito. He confirmed that there are no plans to diminish their usage down the stretch.

“No, not as of now,” Cora answered. “We feel they’re in a good spot physically. Health-wise, they’ve been great. They’ve been able to bounce back, and we got work to do. You know, we still got 29 more games, and a lot of teams are playing well around us. We still have our goal set in the division, so we got to keep going.”

Bello has amassed 141 2/3 innings in his third full year as a major league starter. The 26-year-old is 21 frames away from passing last season’s personal-high after allowing one earned run over 6 2/3 innings in Wednesday’s 3-2 win over the Baltimore Orioles.

Bello has now recorded an out past the fifth inning in 10 straight starts, a stretch that began with a complete game on July 8. The right-hander wields a 2.99 ERA this season and 0.97 WHIP since the start of July.

Meanwhile, Giolito has worked 119 1/3 innings after missing the entire 2024 season with a UCL injury. The 6-foot-6 hurler previously exceeded 160 innings in five consecutive full seasons, making 12 starts in the 60-game 2020 campaign.

Giolito hasn’t finished the fifth in three of his last seven starts, but he’s also completed eight innings twice this month. The 31-year-old blanked Baltimore over 24 outs in Tuesday’s 5-0 win.

Boston’s more pressing workload question is related to Garrett Crochet, who has already shattered a career high with an American League-leading 166 1/3 innings. The Red Sox may want to avoid overextending the former relief pitcher in September so he could anchor a possible playoff rotation.