Heading into this week, it appeared that the Red Sox had only two known commodities when it came to their pitching probables. Garrett Crochet, no doubt, would start on Monday against the A’s. And Dustin May was slated for Tuesday, in Sacramento.
Turns out that was not so certain, either. The Red Sox will not start May on Tuesday after all, and instead are calling up Triple-A prospect Connelly Early to make the start. May will go to the injured list.
That news comes from multiple sources, including MLB.com, which wrote on its site, “The Red Sox are calling up left-handed pitcher Connelly Early, ranked by MLB Pipeline as their No. 6 prospect, to start Tuesday’s game against the Athletics, a source told MLB.com’s Ian Browne.”
And Ken Rosenthal of “Foul Territory” podcast wrote on Twitter/X, “BREAKING: Sources tell Foul Territory that Red Sox are calling up #6 prospect Connelly Early to start tonight vs Athletics. Dustin May expected to go on IL.”
Connelly Early Steady and Effective
Early was a fifth-round pick of the Red Sox in 2023 and has put together a terrific minor-league season, with a 3-1 record and a 2.83 ERA in six appearances at Triple-A Worcester. He had been 7-2 with a 2.51 ERA at Double-A Portland before than and, in all, had stellar combined numbers in those stints: 10-3, 2.60 ERA, 1.106 WHIP, 132 strikeouts in 100.1 innings pitched.
Early has exceeded expectations as he has climbed through the organization, and while he is not a jaw-dropping fire-baller, he won the team over with his consistency. He has had only two poor outings (back on July 6 when he allowed six runs in 4.2 innings for Portland, and on August 21, when he allowed four earned runs in 4.0 innings for Worcester) since the team began stretching him out to starter-length outings in May.
No one is expecting Early to be a future All-Star. But he could be staking a claim to a rotation spot in the near term.
Writes MLB Pipeline: “Early can’t overpower hitters but has the feel to provide consistent strikes without catching too much of the plate. He throws his fastball just one third of the time, just enough to keep hitters honest and set up his secondary pitches, and his heater may need more velocity or life at higher levels. He’s probably not more than a back-of-the-rotation option, but he may have the highest floor among Red Sox starting pitching prospects.”
Red Sox Rotation Still Hurting
Beyond Early’s appearance, though, the Red Sox still have rotation questions. The good news is that their Top 3 remains intact–Crochet, Lucas Giolito and Brayan Bello–and they’ll continue using prospect Payton Tolle every sixth day.
But the Red Sox already had a hole this week–Wednesday’s game in Sacramento– in the rotation before May went down. The list of injured starters was already numbered at more than a half dozen.
But manager Alex Cora will deal with Wednesday as it comes. For now, the Red Sox will see what Early can do.
Like Heavy Sports’s content? Be sure to follow us.
This article was originally published on Heavy Sports
The post Red Sox Top Pitching Prospect Will Debut Tuesday After Dustin May Injury appeared first on Heavy Sports.