The Boston Red Sox are placing Dustin May on the Injured List with an undisclosed injury, and the team is calling up their No. 6-ranked prospect, lefty Connelly Early, on Tuesday.
May had struggled in his first five starts for the Red Sox and was moved to the bullpen for his last outing. After allowing one earned run in three innings, he was scheduled to start on Tuesday. However, now, 23-year-old Early is expected to be the latest Red Sox prospect to join the big leagues.
This season, the Red Sox have already seen Roman Anthony, Kristian Campbell, Jhostynxon Garcia, Marcelo Mayer and Payton Tolle debut in the Major Leagues. Early reached Triple-A Worcester this year and has made six starts for Worcester with a 2.83 ERA.
His debut comes just a couple of weeks after that of Tolle, showing just how much the Red Sox are relying on youth in the final stretch and potentially into the postseason. Garrett Crochet leads their rotation, but there are question marks behind him.
Brayan Bello and Lucas Giolito have been solid players, but Tolle and Early are now being expected to round out a rotation that is potentially going to play in October.
Early was a fifth-round pick of the Red Sox in 2023 out of the University of Virginia. He has a 60-grade change according to MLB Pipeline, and his fastball has topped out at 96 mph, after sitting in the lower 90s in college. Walks could be an issue for him as he has walked 40 batters this season in 21 outings.
Early is going to be expected to produce early in his MLB career, as the Red Sox are trying to secure a wild card spot in the American League.
Photo: Connelly Early throws a pitch against TCU in the first inning of a baseball game at the NCAA College World Series in Omaha, Neb., Sunday, June 18, 2023. (AP Photo/John Peterson)
