Brennan Bernardino taking the mound for the Boston Red Sox in an August 20, 2023, game against the New York Yankees at Yankee Stadium. Screenshot of NESN broadcast.
The Boston Red Sox didn’t have a lot of highlights during their 2023 season, but some reliable arms emerged in the bullpen.
One of those pitchers was left-hander Brennan Bernardino, who had a 3.20 Earned Run Average in 55 games. Before last year, his only big league experience was two games with the Seattle Mariners in 2022.
Bernardino narrowly missed out on making the Red Sox Opening Day roster in 2024 and started the season with the Worcester Red Sox, the team’s Triple-A minor league affiliate. However, the Red Sox called him up to the Big League club on Tuesday, April 9. He made his season debut one day later against the Baltimore Orioles on Wednesday, April 10, pitching two scoreless relief innings, while striking out three batters.
While Bernardino is back up with the Big League club now, NewBostonPost did a Five Questions interview with him at Polar Park in Worcester on Friday, April 5 when he was with the Triple-A club.
The text of the oral in-person interview is below. “AC” stands for Alex Cora, the manager of the Boston Red Sox.
1. You had a productive year for the Boston Red Sox last year. 3.20 ERA in 55 outings, lefties hit .169 off you. What would you credit with allowing you to have that kind of breakout season?
My defense made plays for me. I had a great relationship with both of my catchers. AC put me in some good positions that played toward my pitching style — facing lefties, those types of situations. It all kind of came together.
2. You didn’t start playing high school baseball until your senior year and got cut from the first community college baseball team you tried out for. How’d you decide to keep going and keep giving baseball a shot compared to other sports you played in high school, like basketball and track?
I had played as a kid growing up, I just played one year in high school. Coming back to it, it was the sport I was best at as a kid, so coming back to it just made sense. I love the game.
3. As a left-handed reliever, what did you think of the league switching to a three-batter minimum for pitchers, starting in 2020?
The more I can pitch, the better. But yeah, there’s been a lot of changes to this game. It’s a beautiful game and it’s continually changing and I’ve just gotta get used to it.
4. Before making it to the big leagues, you worked as an Uber and Lyft driver during the offseason. Is there any ride that stands out above the rest?
[Laughs] No, no, they were all pretty easy-going. I maybe had a couple that weren’t my favorite, but that’s part of the job.
5. When did you realize you wanted to be a big leaguer and when did you realize you could make it to the big leagues?
My dream as a kid was to be a big leaguer. Started playing basketball, the dream changed. Basketball didn’t work out, the dream went back to being a big leaguer. And how many people can say they’re living their dream? I’m blessed.
I always kind of believed I could do it. I believed in my athletic ability that I could figure it and also mentally can I withstand everything it takes to get there? Everyone in pro ball has been through something so it’s like: can you keep going?
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Brennan Bernardino taking the mound for the Boston Red Sox in an August 20, 2023, game against the New York Yankees at Yankee Stadium. Screenshot of NESN broadcast. 
