The Red Sox may have lost their five-game win streak last night, but it was far from an uneventful game. Willson Contreras got into it with Washington Nationals pitcher Cade Cavalli, got ejected for the second game in a row, and is awaiting a possible suspension from the league. However, the more immediate problem is what happened to Connelly Early last night. Amid an excellent streak from the starting rotation with 12 quality starts, Early ended the streak after mysteriously disappearing after the fourth inning of last night’s game.
Connelly Early to 15 Day Injured List; Jovani Moran Back With Boston
It was later revealed that night that he left the game due to elbow inflammation, which is rarely a good sign, and it proved to be just that. This morning around 10:30, per Chris Cotillo, Early has been moved to the 15-day injured list. Reliever Jovani Moran is expected to take his spot on the roster, having just been activated from the IL himself.
Red Sox placed Connelly Early on the 15-day IL. Jovani Moran is active. Alec Gamboa takes Tommy Kahnle’s spot, too.
— Chris Cotillo (@ChrisCotillo) July 1, 2026
Connelly Early Huge Piece Of Rotation
This season, Early had been assigned to the Opening Day roster almost immediately, beating out Johan Oviedo for the last spot in the rotation at that point. He had a decent debut in 2025, making the postseason roster despite being a September call-up, and going up against Cam Schlittler and the New York Yankees in the Wild Card round, despite losing. But this season, he’s had nothing short of a solid full rookie season. He’s had seven quality starts this season, going 7-5 with an ERA of 3.44 and 93 strikeouts.
His six-pitch mix is focused mainly on his four-seamer, but his sweeper is the pitch that gets batters the most this season, with batters hitting .103 with 21 strikeouts against that pitch, as well as a 43% Whiff rate.
His arm will surely be missed with his stint on the IL, especially with their starter depth running really thin now, with Crochet on the IL as well. They’ll have to look elsewhere to find a replacement for two weeks.
Who Will Take Early’s Spot In Rotation?
It’s a tricky scenario figuring out who should replace him. As mentioned, Crochet’s on the IL for an unknown amount of time, possibly until after the All-Star break. Brayan Bello’s in Worcester, but he’s had some disastrous starts, which isn’t ideal for a team currently trying to turn it around. Openers such as Moran and fellow reliever Tyler Samaniego have not worked at all.
So is it time to see what a guy like Patrick Sandoval can do? The pitcher who signed with Boston in the 2024 offseason has yet to make his debut with the Red Sox due to a UCL injury. There are rumors that he might be a trade piece for teams that need pitching depth, but in this case of urgency, it might not hurt for a start or two to try him, even if it’s four or five innings at most.
There’s always the option of trying different openers as well. While it may not have worked well with Moran or Samaniego, another recent move that Boston made was recalling Alec Gamboa. The 29-year-old made his major league debut back in May against the Detroit Tigers and had a shutdown ninth inning to help the Red Sox win. There’s a chance a combo of him and Sandoval could be used, or even someone like Eduardo Rivera, who was solid against the Yankees the first time they came to Fenway, could contribute in these times.
Pitching in Trouble
The team that claimed they had tons of pitching depth and traded off a bunch of pieces this offseason suddenly are backed into a corner. Not only are Early and Crochet injured, but they’ve got several more just waiting to get back. They’re in a very tricky spot these next couple of weeks up until the All-Star break, and it will be interesting to see how they respond.
Main Photo Credits: David Butler II-Imagn Images
