Mar 25, 2026
3 min read
Conley Early, a respected rookie for the Boston Red Sox who started in the American League playoffs last season, will be part of the team's rotation to start the season.
Connelly Early, the outstanding Boston Red Sox rookie who started in the American League playoffs last season, will be part of the team's rotation to start the season.
Manager Alex Cora made the announcement Tuesday, adding that the 23-year-old left-hander will follow Garrett Crochet and Sonny Gray and pitch Boston's last out in the opener against the Reds in Cincinnati on Sunday.
The Red Sox have good rotation depth, so Early is no lock to crash camp with the big league team.But after an impressive season -- he allowed just three runs in 17 innings -- Boston honored him over fellow rookie Payton Tolle and Johan Oviedo, who was acquired in an offseason trade with the Pittsburgh Pirates.Tolle was assigned to Triple-A on Monday;Oviedo will be out of the bullpen to start the season.
"We came here to win a lot of games in April, but we're here to win a lot more games than 162," Cora told reporters Tuesday."There's no point in taking both of them (Early and Tolle). I just feel like Early has earned the spot. Tolle has done everything we've asked him to do. There's still room for improvement and he's going to do it."
The starting, 48-point prospect is a fifth-round pick in the 2023 MLB draft.He made his major league debut last September, posting a 2.33 ERA in four games. He then took the mound for Boston in the AL Wild Card Round against the New York Yankees, becoming the Red Sox's longest hitting pitcher since Babe Ruth was 21 in 1916. He pitched well early in the game, but lost in the end.
"The same thing to give me the confidence to put him in Yankee Stadium in the Wild Card Series," Cora told reporters when asked what he's seen since the start of the spring.
