Morning Sports Update

Red Sox rookie Connelly Early discussed his dominant MLB debut

“I can’t think of a better way to start your career," outfielder Rob Refsnyder said of Early's performance in Tuesday's win.

Connelly Early Red Sox
Connelly Early during his Red Sox debut. AP Photo/Scott Marshall

By Hayden Bird

3 minutes to read

Connelly Early’s big day: The first time that many Red Sox fans had even heard of Connelly Early was probably Tuesday afternoon, when news broke that the 23-year-old left-handed pitching prospect was getting his MLB call-up with pitcher Dustin May heading to the injured list.

Though he’s a ranked prospect in Boston’s minor league system, Early had mostly not received the same level of hype as fellow rookie Payton Tolle.

Yet by pitching five scoreless innings and striking out 11 (tying a team record for rookie debuts), Early authored one of the best first career starts in recent Red Sox history.

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Boston defeated the Athletics 6-0, with Romy Gonzalez and Rob Refsnyder both homering in the first inning to put the Red Sox out to a commanding lead.

“Obviously, it didn’t look like he needed it,” said Gonzalez of the plentiful run support given to Early. “He had a pretty sick performance.”

“He let out some emotion after some big strikeouts,” Refsnyder told reporters. “I can’t think of a better way to start your career.”

With his parents and two of his brothers in attendance, Early kept his composure and pitched at a high level to help Boston win in the midst of a playoff race.

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“As soon as I got here, as everybody else was getting in, you see all these faces, guys who are future Hall of Famers, insanely good players — when you see those guys walking around and see them go about their business and everything, it was like, holy cow,” Early told reporters, per The Boston Globe’s Tim Healey. “It really hits you then.”

As for working at the Major League level, Early praised the diligence of catcher Carlos Narváez.

“The biggest thing is probably [Narváez] was locked in today, like he is every single day,” Early explained. “All the notes I had written about the hitters, he was spot on with. So for him not catching me and already being completely locked in on what my pitches are and when to use them and how I like to use them is huge.”

Trivia: Red Sox rookie Connelly Early tied a team record with 11 strikeouts in his MLB debut. It was the first time a Boston pitcher recorded double-digit strikeouts in his first career start since which player in 2007?

(Answer at the bottom).

Hint: He was actually 26-years-old at the time of his first MLB start.

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Scores and schedules:

The Red Sox defeated the Athletics 6-0 on Tuesday. Rookie Connelly Early struck out 11 in his MLB debut, pitching five scoreless innings.

The two teams play again today at 3:35 p.m.

More from Boston.com:

Early’s on time: The Red Sox rookie was not afraid of the big league stage.

The evolution of Bill Belichick: Seth Wickersham stopped by “The Dan Patrick Show” to promote his new book, “American Kings: A Biography of the Quarterback,” and discuss the evolving public persona of the former Patriots coach.

On this day: In 1999, Pedro Martinez put together one of the best starts of his Hall of Fame career, allowing only one hit (a Chili Davis home run) while striking out 17 Yankees in a 3-1 Red Sox win.

Daily highlight: Kristian Campbell made a diving catch playing right field for the Woo Sox on Tuesday.

Trivia answer: Daisuke Matsuzaka

Hayden Bird

Sports Staff

Hayden Bird is a sports staff writer for Boston.com, where he has worked since 2016. He covers all things sports in New England.

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