Connelly Early Opens Up on Tricky Red Sox Roster Situation

The kid has his head in the right place...

Oct 2, 2025; Bronx, New York, USA; Boston Red Sox pitcher Connelly Early (71) stands on the mound 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

Trying to crack the Boston Red Sox's rotation this season is going to be a difficult task.

The offseason additions of Ranger Suárez, Sonny Gray, and Johan Oviedo gave the Red Sox one of the most stacked rotations, if not the most stacked, in all of Major League Baseball. The side effect was that rookie Connelly Early, who seemed deserving of a rotation job by the end of last season, appears to be on the outside looking in.

Early's service time situation dictates that if he spends the first 35 days of the regular season in the minors, the Red Sox get an extra year of team control over him. Chris Cotillo of MassLive pointed out last week that this could be one added incentive to keep him in Triple-A, on top of Boston having five more experienced starters.

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Connelly Early not overthinking roster battle

On Thursday, Early was asked specifically about the service time consideration potentially weighing down his chances to take the No. 5 job at the end of camp, and he gave a levelheaded response.

"No, I don't think about that," Early told MassLive's Christopher Smith. "I just go out there and throw the ball and we'll see what happens at the end of spring training. But just going out there throwing the ball, trying to compete for your spot."

So far this spring, Early has allowed three earned runs and struck out nine batters in 12 innings, spread across three appearances. His fourth came on Thursday against the Minnesota Twins, and he went 3 2/3 innings, his longest outing of the spring.

Nothing fazed Early when he came up in the middle of a playoff race last season, and no one would expect that the prospect of returning to the minors would faze him now, especially when the Red Sox have incentive to monitor his usage on top of the service time issue.

But Early would have a right to be disappointed about being optioned to start the season regardless, because he's done everything right not only since his call-up, but since the start of last season.