“I’m trying to go out there and attack guys — and let the chips fall where they are.”
The Red Sox have the top of their rotation set down the stretch between Garrett Crochet, Lucas Giolito, and Brayan Bello.
But an unlikely addition to the roster is quickly turning into a weapon on the mound for Boston.
A week after dominating the A’s in Sacramento with 11 strikeouts over five scoreless innings, Red Sox rookie Connelly Early followed a similar script on Tuesday night at Fenway Park.
The 23-year-old lefty logged 5.1 innings of work against the A’s in his second career start — allowing one run over that stretch with five hits, zero walks, and another seven strikeouts.
Early’s lone run allowed came after he exited the game. Alex Cora pulled him from the contest with one out in the sixth inning — opting for righty Greg Weissert out of the bullpen in hopes of neutralizing right-handed slugger Brent Rooker at the plate.
Weissert struck out Rooker, but then relinquished two hits to close out the sixth — handing Early his first earned run of his big-league career and sealing Boston’s fate in a frustrating 2-1 loss.
It was a brutal setback for Cora’s club, given both the playoff implications at play in a tightening Wild Card race and the optics of squandering a stellar outing from Early.
The No. 6 prospect in Boston’s system (per MLB Pipeline), Early has gone from a relatively unheralded pitcher to a pleasant surprise amid a wave of setbacks for Boston as of late.
“Really good,” said Alex Cora of his young pitcher. “He moved the ball around, threw strikes, he was under control in every situation. He did a good job with the baserunners. That’s a good lineup and he was able to keep them off-balance, get some strikeouts and get some big outs for us.”
Early may not have the velocity generated by another top Boston pitching prospect in Payton Tolle.
But much as he did last week at Sutter Health Park, Early kept the A’s bats off balance with a varied arsenal of pitches — including a sinker, change-up, curveball, and sweeper.
Early’s wide assortment of offerings on the mound kept the A’s guessing, even if his opponent seemingly had the book on him after battling him a week ago.
“I think I did a good job attacking the hitters,” Early said. “We stuck to the game plan, changed up a couple of things and just tried to get through the lineup as many times as possible.”
Through two starts with Boston, Early has logged 10.1 innings of work. Over that stretch, he has allowed 10 hits, one earned run, and just one walk while striking out 18 batters.
According to Elias, Early is the first pitcher since 1893 to record at least 10 innings pitched with 18 strikeouts, one or fewer walks, and one or fewer runs allowed over his first two career appearances.
Early’s 18 strikeouts also tied a Red Sox record for the most in team history through a player’s first two starts — joining Don Aase in 1977.
Early’s swing-and-miss stuff — complemented by a sharp command of his pitches — has been a welcome development for a Red Sox team that needs all of the help it can get given the team’s offensive woes as of late.
The southpaw is just the 20th big leaguer to rack up 18 or more strikeouts in his first two career MLB starts — and the first since Paul Skenes in 2024.
“I’m trying to go out there and attack guys — and let the chips fall where they are,” Early said. “Sometimes, you get swing and miss, sometimes you don’t. I’m not really looking at the strikeouts too much, more [focused] on getting guys out.”
The Red Sox still have plenty of work to do when it comes to reviving their stagnant offense before the end of the regular season.
But the emergence of Early as a promising starter could pay dividends — both over the next few weeks and especially in the coming years as Boston looks to build a sustainable contender behind a crop of younger players.
“That was amazing,” Early said of receiving a standing ovation at Fenway. “Getting that standing ovation is something I want to get every single time out there. Feeling the city of Boston standing up and cheering me on was amazing.”