Connelly Early will take the mound for the Sox tonight in his second career start, and in many aspects, it will look a heck of a lot like his first outing. He’s facing the A’s, again. He’s pitching on a Tuesday, again — And his counterpart will be former Sox southpaw Jeffrey Springs, again. (There’s definitely some sort of joke to be made here with the pitchers being “Early” and “Springs” and the matchup being Groundhog Day from last week.)
However, one key difference for Early will be the game’s setting. Instead of toeing the rubber in a minor league ballpark out on the west coast late at night, this time he’ll be on the mound at Fenway with a boisterous crowd backing him on every pitch. In some aspects, this will be his first real taste of major league action.
Either way, he’s being thrown right into the fire because the Sox are in a fight for a playoff spot with just 12 games to go and they don’t have anybody else they can reliably slot into the No. 4 and No. 5 rotation spots besides Early. So if he pitches anywhere near as well as he did last time out when he struck out 11 in five shutout innings, a spot in this rotation is likely his until the season ends.
⚾️ First Pitch: 6:45pm at Fenway Park