The Boston Red Sox once again dipped into their youthful Triple-A depth to add starting pitching for Tuesday’s matchup with the Athletics.

Boston will call upon lefty Connelly Early to make his MLB debut on the West Coast. He takes the mound one day before Kyle Harrison, the main pitching piece of the Rafael Devers trade, arrives to make his team debut.

In addition to talented arms such as Luis Perales and Payton Tolle, Early is in the upper echelon of starting pitching prospects in the Red Sox system. Early came to the Red Sox during Chaim Bloom’s final draft with Boston in the fifth round in 2023 out of Virginia. The 23-year-old earned valuable college experience in the Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC) to prepare him for his rise in the system.

Early needed just over two years to reach the majors in a respectable rise through Boston’s minor league affiliates. The 6-foot-3 lefty really kicked into gear in 2025 as he attacked hitters with a good fastball to the tune of 11.8 strikeouts per nine innings. He posted a sub-3.00 ERA with both Double-A Portland and Triple-A Worcester. He makes his 19th start of the season Tuesday with a workload that now spans across three levels.

With Early and Harrison taking the ball after the Athletics, the Red Sox have now had three new starters join the rotation for starts since Aug. 29, which includes Tolle.

The Red Sox have a prominent top trio of starters primed for the postseason in Garrett Crochet, Brayan Bello and Lucas Giolito. Beyond them, all of these new candidates, in addition to making these starts, are also on serious auditions for playoff roles with the Red Sox, with under 20 games to go in the regular season.

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