When will Connelly Early pitch next for Red Sox? Cora explains

Given Early’s impressive showing — coupled with the instability of the backend of Boston’s starting rotation following Walker Buehler’s release and Dustin May’s injury — the writing was on the wall that Early would get another look in Boston’s rotation moving forward.

Speaking on Friday ahead of Boston’s matchup against the Yankees at Fenway Park, Alex Cora acknowledged that Early remains in the Red Sox’s plans — along with another pair of young pitchers on the roster in Payton Tolle and Kyle Harrison. 

According to Cora, Early stands as a candidate to start Tuesday’s series opener against the Athletics at Fenway. But Boston is still assessing its options when it comes to the rest of Boston’s young starters.

“We’ll decide Sunday,” Cora said. “We’re actually talking about it. [Craig Breslow] will come down after batting practice and go over how we’re going to use them. By Sunday, we’ll have an answer.”

Tolle might hold the higher pedigree among Red Sox prospects (No. 2 in the system, per MLB Pipeline), but the 22-year-old lefty has had his struggles over his last two outings — allowing seven earned runs over his last five innings of work.

Harrison, 24, made his debut with the Red Sox on Wednesday against the A’s — recording three scoreless innings of relief. Harrison, who has started 35 career games with the Giants, was one of the top returns in the Rafael Devers trade from June. 

The Red Sox could opt to once again stack a few of their young pitchers together in a start against the A’s — much as they did when both Tolle and Harrison logged innings in that Wednesday game. 

That trio of younger pitchers gives Boston some flexibility to prescribe more rest for its top starters in Garrett Crochet, Brayan Bello, and Lucas Giolito.

However, Cora also must handle a delicate balancing act when it comes to monitoring the workload of prospects like Tolle and Early — who have not been exposed to the rigors of the big-league schedule. 

“Yeah, you gotta be careful,” Cora said. “One bad step can put you in a bad spot, you know? And it’s not talking standing wise, it’s talking about health. So just a lot of conversation with trainers, a lot of conversation with the players, and then we go from there.

“I think we are deeper pitching-wise than obviously the last three years. We’re in a good spot. We got our starters rolling this weekend, right? [Lucas Giolito], Bello and Crochet. Hopefully they go deep into the game, and then we can mix and match.”

 

Conor Ryan is a staff writer covering the Bruins, Celtics, Patriots, and Red Sox for Boston.com, a role he has held since 2023.