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Connelly Early #71 of the Boston Red Sox celebrates with his teammates after being taken out of a game against the Athletics during the sixth inning at Fenway Park on September 16, 2025 in Boston, Massachusetts.

The Red Sox still need to punch a ticket to the American League playoffs at this point, and while taking two out of three in a weekend series in Tampa Bay was a positive, they’re 85-71, still clinging to a one-game lead over the Astros and Guardians, who are both 84-72.

Boston will close with a three-game series in Toronto starting Tuesday, with the hope that the Blue Jays take their foot off the gas now that they’ve clinched the AL East, followed by a three-game home series against the Tigers–who, at 85-71 and one game ahead of Cleveland as well, are in danger of losing their hold on a playoff spot without a strong finish.

If things shake out in the Red Sox’s favor in the coming days, they will need to quickly assemble their plan for the playoffs, starting next Tuesday. And while there is no doubt that the team will want ace Garrett Crochet to take the ball as many times as possible, ESPN has a radical suggestion for Boston’s potential postseason run: Get rookie Connelly Early into the mix, too.

Red Sox Have Garrett Crochet, Brayan Bello and Then …

As things stand, logically, the Red Sox would have Crochet as their Game 1 ace if the schedule allows it. Their second-best pitcher has been Brayan Bello, at 11-8 with a 3.34 ERA and Lucas Giolito has been a clear third (10-4, 3.46).

Early, the lefty called up by Boston to debut this month after a stellar minor-league season, has been impressive, going 1-1 with a 1.88 ERA and 22 strikeouts in 14.1 innings. As ESPN analyst Kiley McDaniel sees it, the Red Sox should move Giolito aside and ride with Early in the playoffs.

Red Sox Rotation Suggestion

McDaniel wrote of the Red Sox’s pitching approach: “Crochet is very clearly the kind of arm Boston needs to start three times in a seven-game series. Bello has outpitched his underlying metrics all year. … Early has continually beat my expectations, including when I thought (Payton) Tolle was the better of the two Red Sox prospect lefties with a chance to be called up.

“I think starting those three and deploying the other bulk-inning options listed above in a bullpen day (instead of a conventional fourth starter) and/or long relief to take advantage of matchups is likely the best option.”

Connelly Early Over Lucas Giolito?

The logic of using a guy who can get strikeouts in the playoffs is obvious, but still, it would be difficult to bump Giolito from the starting rotation. He was inconsistent early in the year, and had a couple of bumps down the stretch (he called his last start “trash”) but he has strung together some exceptional runs during this season.

Early allowed three runs (two earned) in 4.0 innings on Sunday. He walked two and gave up three runs in the first.

“I just didn’t do a good enough job being in the strike zone from pitch one,” Early said. “Two walks in the first is a tough start, and going down 3-0 is really tough.”

Sean Deveney is a veteran sports reporter covering the NBA, NFL and MLB for Heavy.com. He has written for Heavy since 2019 and has more than two decades of experience covering the NBA, including 17 years as the lead NBA reporter for the Sporting News. Deveney is the author of 7 nonfiction books, including “Fun City,” “Before Wrigley became Wrigley,” and “Facing Michael Jordan.” More about Sean Deveney

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