It certainly looks like the Boston Red Sox have found a long-term piece for the starting rotation in Connelly Early.
Early’s path to the majors has been anything but typical. He was a fifth-round pick by Boston in the 2023 Major League Baseball Draft out of the University of Virginia. Early made one professional appearance in 2023 with Class-A Salem before his first full season in 2024. That year, he split between High-A and Double-A. It was the 2025 season where everything changed.
Early was excellent down in the minors with a 2.60 ERA in 21 total appearances in Double-A and Triple-A. With injuries popping up all throughout the major league rotation, it expedited Early’s path to the big leagues and he took full advantage. Early made four starts down the stretch and caught the attention of the fanbase with a 2.33 ERA. Then, he started a playoff game against the New York Yankees.
Connelly Early Has Been Excellent For Boston
Fast forward to this season and Early wasn’t even expected to be on the big league roster throughout Spring Training but he pitched so well that the Red Sox didn’t have another choice. Now, he’s eight starts in this season after a brilliant outing on Friday against the Tampa Bay Rays and it looks like he’s never leaving this rotation.
Tampa Bay entered the contest with seven straight wins. That didn’t matter, though. The 24-year-old pitched seven shutout innings and allowed just four base hits while striking out a season-high eight batters. That’s not all. Mac Cerullo of The Boston Herald shared on X that Early is now the first pitcher since 1900 to allow three or fewer runs and five or fewer hits in 11 of their first 12 career games.
“From the Red Sox game notes: Connelly Early is the first MLB player since 1900 to start and allow three or fewer runs and five or fewer hits in 11 of their first 12 career games,” Cerullo wrote.
We’re witnessing a young hurler blossom from a young depth piece with upside to a legit front-of-the-rotation arm right before our eyes. Again, he wasn’t expected to make the big league roster out of camp. Imagine where Boston would be without him? Early now has a 3.16 ERA on the season across 42 2/3 innings pitched. That ERA number is skewed by one start in which he gave up five runs in four innings against the Houston Astros. Outside of that start on May 2, Early hasn’t given up more than three runs in any other of his seven starts.
