Connelly Early 'had no idea' about analytics before Red Sox: Has since 'bought in' on data-driven pitching development
The Boston Red Sox selected left-handed pitcher Connelly Early in the 5th round of the 2023 MLB Draft last June. At just 22 years old and a little over a year since beginning his professional baseball journey, Early is already in Double-A and a current member of the Portland Sea Dogs starting rotation.
“The experience up here has been great so far,” Early said of his time in Portland. “I was really close with a lot of the guys down in Greenville since there was more guys from my draft class, but I came up here and got treated like I have been here the whole year. It is a great group of guys up here though.”
Early has now made six starts for the Sea Dogs since his promotion on July 26th. While the results haven’t been there that he might have wanted, the left-hander is starting to make adjustments on the differences in skill level at the level.
“In Double-A, you have to go out there knowing your plan on how to attack hitters,” Early said. “The hitters are more disciplined, and they go in depth more on the pitchers they are facing. They are most likely sitting on one pitch or looking for something they can do damage on. On the mound, it is just looking at each hitter’s weaknesses and trying to attack those. At the end of the day, it is really just sticking to what you are good at and what your guns are.”
Even with Early only being in the Red Sox organization for a little over a year, the former Virginia product has seen just how much that Craig Breslow and the pitching development staff are locked in on how they handle pitching development.
“Before professional baseball, I had never really been into the analytical stuff,” Early said. “I couldn’t have even told you what any of my pitch shapes were. In college, I just went out there filling up the zone and attacked hitters with what I had not knowing if it was great or not. In professional ball, you look at the Trackman every bullpen you throw. We have monthly performance meetings and go through all the goals we had for that month with the whole coaching staff and Justin Willard. We go over that and it will lay out your schedule for bullpens and what you are trying to achieve in games. It can be anything from velocity to pitch shape to in-zone percentage. I feel like you come to the field with a good plan in mind knowing what you are trying to attack every day.”
The 2023 draft class for the Red Sox featured two players from the University of Virginia. Connelly Early, who went 12-3 in his final season, was taken four rounds after former Virginia catcher Kyle Teel.
“When I first got drafted and knew that Kyle was here, it was nice at least knowing one person that I was pretty good friends with.” Early said of getting drafted with Teel. “When you are in the locker room with others in college, you learn a lot about each other. You learn about each other’s playing styles, and you know they like to be fun. You learned about them as a human beings and not just a baseball player. Being with the Red Sox and getting to see him here in Portland was really nice. I have kept in touch with him a good amount with all the stuff he is doing in Worcester. Later on in the future, let’s hope we are both up together in Boston. That would be sick.”
