Connelly Early Giving Red Sox Impossible Rotation Decision

The Boston Red Sox lefty is making the case for himself.

Mar 6, 2026; Lakeland, Florida, USA; Boston Red Sox pitcher Connelly Early (71) pitches during the fourth inning against the Detroit Tigers at Publix Field at Joker Marchant Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Mike Watters-Imagn Images | Mike Watters-Imagn Images

The Boston Red Sox's rotation is absolutely loaded with Opening Day under three weeks away from kicking off.

When it comes to Boston, the top four spots in the rotation are set: Garrett Crochet, Ranger Suárez, Sonny Gray and Brayan Bello. The No. 5 spot in the rotation is seemingly up in the air, although Johan Oviedo has the "inside lane" to the job, per MassLive.com's Chris Cotillo.

The Red Sox have a decision to make

Oct 2, 2025; Bronx, New York, USA; Boston Red Sox pitcher Connelly Early (71) throws to the plate in the first inning against the New York Yankees during game three of the Wildcard round for the 2025 MLB playoffs at Yankee Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Vincent Carchietta-Imagn Images | Vincent Carchietta-Imagn Images

"As of now, Oviedo (despite having minor league options) has the inside lane to that spot, according to sources, because he’s fully healthy and without restrictions entering camp," Cotillo wrote. "Outings like his erratic debut Wednesday could lead the Red Sox to look elsewhere, though. Helping Oviedo’s case is the fact Crawford, who missed all of last season with knee and wrist issues, is behind and hasn’t faced hitters yet and Sandoval, who also missed 2025, is not yet throwing in games."

Cotillo made this suggestion before Oviedo's great second outing in which he went three scoreless innings against the Toronto Blue Jays and struck out four batters. It's going to be hard for anyone to surpass him. But someone who is really going to give Boston a tough decision is Connelly Early. The left-handed flamethrower has shown higher velocity in Spring Training and has been lights-out in general. He took the mound for Boston on Friday and went 3 2/3 scoreless innings to lower his Spring Training ERA to 2.16. Plus, he struck out four batters.

Connelly Early continued his strong case to start the season in Boston’s rotation with 3.2 scoreless innings today

His tendency to weave in his assortment of pitches provide him a solid floor which is further heightened by the quality of his fastball and changeup pic.twitter.com/cKWAxWoLvE

— Thomas Nestico (@TJStats) March 6, 2026

Now, the most likely solution for the Red Sox is still Oviedo. He came over this past offseason in a big trade with the Pittsburgh Pirates. Oviedo, like Early, has big-time upside. Plus, of course, there's Payton Tolle.

At the end of the day, the Red Sox are in a position that any other team around the league would love to be in. It's going to be tough to make the No. 5 starter decision, but that's a good thing. No matter who misses the Opening Day starting rotation surely will play a role at some point in 2026.