{"id":106896,"date":"2025-09-09T21:17:17","date_gmt":"2025-09-10T01:17:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/?p=106896"},"modified":"2025-09-09T21:18:02","modified_gmt":"2025-09-10T01:18:02","slug":"red-sox-promote-prospect-connelly-early-mlb-debut","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/2025\/09\/09\/red-sox-promote-prospect-connelly-early-mlb-debut\/","title":{"rendered":"Red Sox No. 6 Prospect Promoted, Will Start Tonight in Sacramento"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">BOSTON \u2014 The <a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/2025\/08\/31\/red-sox-shortstop-trevor-story-facing-easy-opt-out-decision\/\" target=\"_self\">Boston Red Sox<\/a> called up left-handed pitcher <a href=\"https:\/\/www.baseball-reference.com\/register\/player.fcgi?id=early-000con&amp;utm_medium=linker&amp;utm_source=lastwordonsports.com&amp;utm_campaign=2025-09-09_br\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Connelly Early<\/a> from Triple-A Worcester for his major league debut tonight against the <a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/2025\/06\/07\/athletics-home-run-pitching-problem\/\" target=\"_self\">Athletics<\/a>, first reported by Foul Territory TV. As a corresponding move, the team placed starter <a href=\"https:\/\/www.baseball-reference.com\/players\/m\/maydu01.shtml?utm_medium=linker&amp;utm_source=lastwordonsports.com&amp;utm_campaign=2025-09-09_br\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Dustin May<\/a> on the 15-day injured list with (as of this time) an undisclosed injury, per Mac Cerullo of the Boston Herald. Early, a fifth-round pick in 2023, follows <a href=\"https:\/\/www.baseball-reference.com\/players\/t\/tollepa01.shtml?utm_medium=linker&amp;utm_source=lastwordonsports.com&amp;utm_campaign=2025-09-09_br\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Payton Tolle<\/a> as a recent Red Sox pitching <a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/2025\/08\/29\/red-sox-calling-up-payton-tolle-friday-debut\/\" target=\"_self\">prospect debut<\/a>, jumping over <a href=\"https:\/\/www.baseball-reference.com\/players\/h\/harriky01.shtml?utm_medium=linker&amp;utm_source=lastwordonsports.com&amp;utm_campaign=2025-09-09_br\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Kyle Harrison<\/a>, acquired in the <a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/2025\/06\/15\/sf-giants-acquire-rafael-devers-red-sox\/\" target=\"_self\">trade<\/a> for <a href=\"https:\/\/www.baseball-reference.com\/players\/d\/deverra01.shtml?utm_medium=linker&amp;utm_source=lastwordonsports.com&amp;utm_campaign=2025-09-09_br\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Rafael Devers<\/a>, in Boston\u2019s reinforcement pecking order.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_106917\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-106917\" style=\"width: 411px\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\" wp-image-106917\" src=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2025\/09\/USATSI_26737754_168400885_lowres-300x237.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"411\" height=\"325\" srcset=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2025\/09\/USATSI_26737754_168400885_lowres-300x237.jpg 300w, https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2025\/09\/USATSI_26737754_168400885_lowres-768x607.jpg 768w, https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2025\/09\/USATSI_26737754_168400885_lowres.jpg 1000w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 411px) 100vw, 411px\" \/><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-106917\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">\u00a9 Rick Cinclair\/Telegram &amp; Gazette \/ USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<h2>Red Sox Calling Up Connelly Early for MLB Debut<\/h2>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\">\n<p dir=\"ltr\" lang=\"en\">The Red Sox are calling up Connelly Early to start in place of Dustin May tonight, per multiple reports.<\/p>\n<p>Early is Boston&#8217;s 6th ranked prospect on <a  href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/MLBPipeline?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">@MLBPipeline<\/a> and has posted a 2.60 ERA in 100.1 IP in the minor leagues this season <a  href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/s4Ma3y7CRU\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">pic.twitter.com\/s4Ma3y7CRU<\/a><\/p>\n<p>\u2014 FOX Sports: MLB (@MLBONFOX) <a  href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/MLBONFOX\/status\/1965441404672639014?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">September 9, 2025<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n<h3><b>Minor League Dominance<\/b><\/h3>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Early, 23, has excelled in the minors this season, posting a 10-3 record with a 2.60 ERA (2.76 FIP) over 110 1\/3 innings across Double-A Portland and Triple-A Worcester. Additionally, he recorded 132 strikeouts compared to 40 walks, yielding a 1.106 WHIP. At Worcester, he went 3-1 with a 2.83 ERA in six appearances (28 2\/3 innings), including a career-high 10-strikeout, six-scoreless-inning outing on September 2. Diving into Early\u2019s advanced metrics, he owns a PS score (Prospect Savant score is a percentile stat that evaluates prospect value) of 97.84, good for the 98th percentile across Triple-A pitchers. <\/span>Baseball America notes Early\u2019s 31% strikeout rate led Red Sox minor leaguers (80+ innings), driven by increased velocity and refined arsenal.<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\">\n<p dir=\"ltr\" lang=\"en\">Connelly Early is trending up in Worcester\u2026 we may see him with the major league staff soon, and for good reason!<\/p>\n<p>Some notes \u2b07\ufe0f<\/p>\n<p>100.1 IP | 2.60 ERA\/2.76 FIP<br \/>\n1.11 WHIP \/ .193 BAA \/ 10% BB<br \/>\n32% K \/ 14% SwStr \/ 32% CSW<\/p>\n<p>\u26be\ufe0f w\/ AAA: .248 xwOBA, 85aEV, 6\u00b0 LA, 51% GB, 34% HH, 69% Con\u2026 <a  href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/mTFLgbbxDa\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">pic.twitter.com\/mTFLgbbxDa<\/a><\/p>\n<p>\u2014 G.G. (@ggeiss_mlb) <a  href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/ggeiss_mlb\/status\/1965067624959889530?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">September 8, 2025<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n<h3><b>Scouting Report and Praise<\/b><\/h3>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u201cConnelly\u2019s a strikeout pitcher,\u201d Worcester manager <a href=\"https:\/\/www.baseball-reference.com\/players\/t\/tracych01.shtml?utm_medium=linker&amp;utm_source=lastwordonsports.com&amp;utm_campaign=2025-09-09_br\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Chad Tracy<\/a> told MassLive. \u201cHe keeps hitters confused, and that 10-strikeout game showed his stuff plays.\u201d Early\u2019s six-pitch mix\u2014featuring a 92-95 mph fastball, a plus changeup, and a devastating curve\u2014has drawn attention. FanGraphs\u2019 David Laurila noted, \u201cHe\u2019s revamped his repertoire, with a new one-seam kick-change that\u2019s his nastiest pitch.\u201d Teammate Payton Tolle, who debuted August 29, praised Early\u2019s composure: \u201cHe\u2019s got that calm confidence. He\u2019ll handle the big stage.\u201d Scouts highlight his pitchability, with SoxProspects.com noting his \u201cabove-average command and consistent release point.\u201d\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\">\n<p dir=\"ltr\" lang=\"en\">Good look at Connelly Early\u2019s last start.<\/p>\n<p>He\u2019s made 6 starts since reaching AAA with a 2.83 ERA\/3.06 FIP in 28.2 IP. 11.3 K\/9 and 3.5 BB\/9. Has limited homers with a 0.6 HR\/9.<\/p>\n<p>Nasty changeup. Been a battle for him to maintain velo deep into outings.<a  href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/I3HmWEq4AR\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">pic.twitter.com\/I3HmWEq4AR<\/a><\/p>\n<p>\u2014 Tyler Milliken (@tylermilliken_) <a  href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/tylermilliken_\/status\/1965448626584670670?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">September 9, 2025<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n<div><span class=\"css-1jxf684 r-bcqeeo r-1ttztb7 r-qvutc0 r-poiln3 r-1adg3ll r-1x3r274 r-p1pxzi\"><span class=\"css-1jxf684 r-bcqeeo r-1ttztb7 r-qvutc0 r-poiln3\"><span class=\"css-1jxf684 r-bcqeeo r-1ttztb7 r-qvutc0 r-poiln3 r-1x3r274\">Worcester T&amp;G asked what Early\u2019s MLB debut with the Red Sox this week would mean for him. <\/span><\/span><\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">He said, &#8220;It&#8217;d be amazing, of course&#8230; I feel like everybody in the organization wants to get up to play for the Red Sox. I mean, the Red Sox are a great organization, and they have a reputation of being good for so long, and I feel like that&#8217;s just something that everybody wants to be a part of&#8230; So, it would just mean a ton.&#8221;\u00a0<\/span><\/div>\n<h3><b>Implications for Boston<\/b><\/h3>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">However, Early faces a challenging debut at Sacramento\u2019s hitter-friendly stadium, Sutter Health Park. <\/span><span class=\"css-1jxf684 r-bcqeeo r-1ttztb7 r-qvutc0 r-poiln3 r-1adg3ll r-1g7jtus r-1x3r274\"><span class=\"css-1jxf684 r-bcqeeo r-1ttztb7 r-qvutc0 r-poiln3\"><span class=\"css-1jxf684 r-bcqeeo r-1ttztb7 r-qvutc0 r-poiln3 r-1x3r274\">The Athletics&#8217; temporary field ranks second in WOBA, runs, OBP, hits, and ninth in home runs. <\/span><\/span><\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Effectively, <a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/2025\/05\/25\/trouble-sacramento-problems-pile-up\/\" target=\"_self\">Sutter Health Park<\/a> owns a 108 Park Factor (per Baseball Savant), trailing only the <a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/2025\/09\/04\/bright-spot-rockies-rotation\/\" target=\"_self\">Colorado Rockies<\/a>\u2019 Coors Field. <\/span>His promotion reflects <a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/2025\/06\/21\/whats-next-red-sox-farm-system-post-big-three\/\" target=\"_self\">Boston\u2019s faith in their farm talent<\/a>, as they push for a Wild Card spot, leading Seattle by 3 1\/2 games. <span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">For instance, Tolle\u2019s debut (5 1\/3 IP, 8 K, 2 ER) set a high bar, and Early aims to follow suit. Yet, his high-floor profile suggests reliability over flash. Meanwhile, May\u2019s IL stint raises rotation concerns, but Early\u2019s emergence is the depth Boston needs. <\/span>As Boston chases a playoff spot, Early\u2019s debut could be pivotal for the young lefty and the Red Sox.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>Main Photo Credit: \u00a9 WooSox Photo\/Ashley Green \/ USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>BOSTON \u2014 The Boston Red Sox called up left-handed pitcher Connelly Early from Triple-A Worcester for his major league debut tonight against the Athletics, first reported by Foul Territory TV. As a corresponding move, the team placed starter Dustin May on the 15-day injured list with (as of this time) an undisclosed injury, per Mac [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5310,"featured_media":106916,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"no","_lmt_disable":"","sfio_featured_image":false,"sfio_embed_code":"","_ef_editorial_meta_date_first-draft-date":"","_ef_editorial_meta_paragraph_assignment":"","_ef_editorial_meta_checkbox_needs-photo":"","_ef_editorial_meta_number_word-count":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[4,926,1071,35],"tags":[29135,1750,3774,28646,1535],"class_list":["post-106896","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-redsox","category-milb","category-mlb","category-news","tag-connelly-early","tag-dustin-may","tag-kyle-harrison","tag-payton-tolle","tag-rafael-devers"],"modified_by":"Lewis Masella, Site Editor","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/106896","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/5310"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=106896"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/106896\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":106918,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/106896\/revisions\/106918"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/106916"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=106896"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=106896"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=106896"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}