For the second time in as many weeks, a Red Sox pitching prospect has been recognized as the Eastern League Pitcher of the Week.
After right-hander David Sandlin took home the honor last week, left-hander Connelly Early was named the Eastern League Pitcher of the Week for the week of June 23-29 on Monday, Minor League Baseball announced.
Early was stellar for Double-A Portland and was credited with the win in Sunday’s series finale on the road against Binghamton. The 23-year-old lefty walked three and struck out seven over six scoreless, no-hit innings. He retired 17 of the 20 batters he faced, throwing 82 pitches (56 strikes) and generating 12 whiffs as the Sea Dogs defeated the Rumble Ponies by a final score of 3-1 at Mirabito Stadium.
In 12 outings (nine starts) for Portland to this point in the season, Early has posted a 1.94 ERA (2.20 FIP) with a staff-leading 81 strikeouts to 24 walks over 55 2/3 innings in which opponents have batted just .189 against him. That includes a .141 batting average against left-handed hitters and a .212 batting average against right-handed hitters.
Among 29 pitchers in the Eastern League who have thrown at least 55 innings this year, Early ranks second in strikeouts per nine innings (13.10), strikeout rate (35.4 percent), swinging-strike rate (15.2 percent), batting average against, FIP, xFIP (2.77), groundball rate (52.7 percent), and line-drive rate (14.3 percent), third in ERA, and seventh in WHIP (1.10), per FanGraphs.
Early, who turned 23 in April, is currently regarded by Baseball America as Boston’s No. 10 prospect, which ranks fifth among pitchers in the organization. The Midlothian, Va. native was originally selected by the Red Sox in the fifth round (151st overall) in the 2023 draft out of Virginia by way of Army West Point. He received an at-slot $408,500 signing bonus and has only seen his stock rise since entering the professional ranks..
Standing at 6-foot-3 and 195 pounds, Early throws from a low three-quarters arm slot and incorporates a high leg kick into his repeatable delivery. As noted in his SoxProspects.com scouting report, the athletic southpaw primarily operates with a four- to five-pitch mix that consists of a 92-95 mph fastball (topped out at 96.6 mph on Sunday), an 82-85 mph changeup, an 80-83 mph sweeper, an 84-87 mph slider, and a 77-80 mph curveball.
As is the case with Sandlin, Early, too, is seemingly on the verge of a promotion to Triple-A Worcester. Both hurlers simultaneously made the jump to Portland after the MLB All-Star break last July, so it will be interesting to see if that pattern repeats itself in the coming weeks.
(Picture of Connelly Early: Kelly O’Connor/sittingstill.smugmug.com)
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