Red Sox pitching prospect Connelly Early impressive in start for Greenville
The Red Sox minor league affiliates have begun their 2024 seasons, and Greenville Drive’s Connelly Early was impressive on the mound in his first start.
Early needed just 55 pitches over four shutout innings in the Drive’s loss to Greensboro.
Boston’s fifth-round pick in 2023 out of the University of Virginia gave up just one hit and one walk while striking out six batters. Of the 55 pitches Early threw, 36 were for strikes.
Early’s appearance on Saturday night was just his second in the Red Sox system and his second career start. Last season, he threw in one game for the Low-A Salem Red Sox, tossing two frames, giving up one hit and one earned run while holding opponents to a .125 batting average in the game.
The southpaw spent the first two years of his collegiate career with Army, where the team won back-to-back Patriot League titles. While pitching for Army, Early posted a 2.23 ERA in 36 1/3 innings as a freshman and a 3.26 ERA in 85 2/3 innings as a sophomore.
He then transferred to Virginia, where he had a 3.09 ERA in 87 1/3 innings. Early struck out 100 batters as a member of the Cavaliers while walking 23.
The Virginia native is listed at 6-foot-3 and 195 pounds. He features a four-pitch mix, a low 90s fastball, sweeping slider, curveball, and changeup. According to SoxProspects, Early has the potential to be an organizational starter. He is “durable and has solid pitch-ability, but the present stuff other than his changeup is fringy,” wrote SoxProspects.
