If you stayed up late to watch Connelly Early’s major league debut, you witnessed history in West Sacramento.
Thin on pitching depth amid multiple injuries in their starting rotation, the Boston Red Sox promoted the 23-year-old left-hander from Triple-A Worcester on Tuesday night to start against the Athletics.
And all Early did was deliver one of his best pitching performances at any level.
Early, the No. 6 prospect in Boston’s system entering Tuesday, pitched five scoreless innings in the Red Sox’ 6-0 win, allowing just five hits and one walk with 11 strikeouts. Early showcased a filthy sweeping curveball and a mid-90s fastball while striking out 52 percent of the batters he faced.
How dominant was Early in his MLB debut? Here are four stats that put his impressive night into perspective:
Topping a Red Sox all-time leaderboard
Early’s 11 punch-outs tied Don Aase for the most strikeouts ever by a Red Sox pitcher in his MLB debut. Here’s the company Early joined, which also features 2007 World Series champion Daisuke Matsuzaka:
- Connelly Early: 11 (2025)
- Don Aase: 11 (1977)
- Daisuke Matsuzaka: 10 (2007)
- Dave Morehead: 10 (1963)
- Marty McHale: 10 (1910)
A few fun facts about Don Aase, via The Boston Globe’s Peter Abraham: Aase never recorded more than eight strikeouts in a game after his debut, and was traded after the 1977 for a second baseman named Jerry Remy.
In the company of a Hall of Famer
According to Underdog’s Justin Havens, only three players in MLB history have allowed zero runs and one or fewer walks while striking out 10 or batters in their big-league debut.
One is Early. The second is Steve Woodard, who debuted for the Milwaukee Brewers in 1997. The third is Hall of Famer and 10-time All-Star Juan Marichal.
Ironically, all three players pitched for the Red Sox — Woodard in 2003 and Marichal in 1974.
An MLB first
According to Opta Stats, Early is the first pitcher in MLB’s modern era to have a debut in which he:
- Threw at least 5.0 shutout innings
- Walked one batter or fewer
- Struck out more than half the batters he faced
It’s worth noting that the A’s don’t exactly have a cupcake lineup; while they’re in last place in the American League West, they rank fifth in all of baseball in team batting average (.254) and home runs (199).
A personal best
This might be the craziest stat: Per the Athletics’ media relations team, Early’s 11 strikeouts were his most in any game since at least high school.
Early’s highest strikeout total in the minors was 10, set during a Sept. 2 start for the Triple-A WooSox. He struck out 10 batters on two separate occasions at the University of Virginia, but never reached 11 Ks.
That’s all to say Early lit it up in his MLB debut — and earned a spot in the Red Sox’ rotation until further notice.
Fellow rookie Payton Tolle, who was called up two weeks ago, will get the start in Wednesday’s series finale vs. the A’s at 3:35 p.m. ET.
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