NEW YORK – One day after optioning right-hander Brayan Bello to Triple-A Worcester, Boston Red Sox chief baseball officer Craig Breslow said the move was as much about the starter’s expectations for himself as his performance on the mound.“(We) have a lot of belief in Brayan as a major-league starter, but felt like he was putting a ton of pressure on himself and this was no longer the best place for him to reset and work through this process,” Breslow said, sitting in the visitors’ dugout at Yankee Stadium on Friday.Breslow characterized the move as a “really, really tough conversation, really tough decision” following another subpar start from Bello on Thursday, one that increased his ERA as a starter to 10.34.Though Bello had found success in three outings out of Boston’s bullpen as a bulk reliever, posting an 0.70 ERA, Brelsow said it was in the best interest of the team and the pitcher for the 26-year-old to put in work away from the stress of the big-league atmosphere.Two years ago, Bello was one of the first players to whom Breslow gave a long-term contract extension, signing Bello to a six-year, $55 million deal that runs through 2029 with a 2030 player option.Bello has shown flashes of potential, including last year when he posted a 3.35 ERA over 29 games, 28 starts. But consistency year-to-year has been his biggest issue, alongside his inability to keep his emotions in check. He’s been able to harness that emotion at times; at other points, it’s caused him to unravel in big spots.Breslow felt that at some point, Bello lost his passion for the game, allowing the game’s pressure to dictate his fate on the mound. He relayed that to Bello as an area of focus while he pitches in Worcester.“When I first got here, he was a guy that had this big personality, always had a smile on his face, interacting with teammates and you could tell just loved to compete and loved to pitch,” Breslow said. “I think we lost that a little bit, where he was putting a ton of pressure on himself to go out and perform. One of the things that we asked him to do was to kind of fall in love with baseball all over again and to go down to compete. He’s gonna work hard, we know that, but to kind of remember why you love playing this game.”On the pitching side of things, Breslow mapped out a plan for Bello in Worcester as well, one that Bello had begun to implement in Boston alongside pitching coach Andrew Bailey.“Brayan is at his best when he really leans into the sinker-changeup combination,” Breslow said. “He attacks the strike zone. He manages contact. He gets a ton of the ground balls. He’s given up a lot of damage, particularly damage against lefties, and has gotten into trouble when he fell behind in counts. I know Brayan and Bails have done a lot of work on trying to kind of recapture that form, both in terms of the pitch usage and locations, but also the delivery, where the slot is a little bit lower now and he’s a little more athletic.”Despite the rough results on Thursday, Breslow felt they’ve started to see some fruit from Bello’s labor. He pointed to some stretches of success Bello has had, only to be derailed by a fielding error or a ball that found a hole, snowballing into a bad inning.“I think it’s close in terms of the overall mix, the usage, the delivery,” Breslow said. “We just need to go down there (to Worcester) and let him have some success, and kind of build some insulation around that. At some point, somebody is going to hit a ball that gets through a hole somewhere, and have him just go right back to attacking strikes.“I do think that comes with confidence and working through those things in a little bit of a lower-pressure environment.”After Thursday’s game and before his demotion, Bello was frustrated with comments about his status on the team and whether he should be used out of the bullpen.“First of all, just stop talking about bullpen and starting games,” Bello said through team interpreter Carlos Villoria-Benetiz. “I’ve always been a starter, and when I’ve been successful as a starter, no one asks your question (about) whether I have to be in the bullpen or starting games.”Breslow said the comments from Bello did not lead to his demotion.“I agree that Brayan is a major-league starter,” he said. “We need to kind of recapture that form. But no, that wasn’t part of the decision at all.”With Bello moving to Worcester, the Red Sox added reliever Joe La Sorsa to the major-league roster for now. To make room on the 40-man roster, the Red Sox placed Garrett Crochet on the 60-day injured list. That would make Crochet eligible to return in late June. Crochet was not expected to return before then, given his most recent setback: left lat tightness after a live batting practice session last week. Breslow said Crochet is moving in the right direction, but not ready to begin throwing again.Bello would have been scheduled to start again on Tuesday. Though Breslow said the team is considering its options, all indications are that left-hander Jake Bennett is the leading candidate to fill that spot.