Boston Red Sox Calling Up No. 6 Prospect for Tuesday Start vs. A's

After the Boston Red Sox held the A's scoreless for the first time since late May with a 7-0 win in a game started by AL CY Young contender Garrett Crochet, the Sox will be calling up their No. 6 overall prospect, Connelly Early, to start Tuesday's game. Dustin May had been the scheduled starter, but the expectation is that he will land on the IL, per Foul Territory.

Early is the most MLB-ready pitching prospect that Boston has that isn't already in the big leagues, joining No. 2 prospect Payton Tolle. Early is a 23-year-old left-hander, and some of the A's key bats have struggled against lefties, while the team overall has been relatively consistent production-wise.

The most notable player that has struggled has been Nick Kurtz, who is in line for the AL Rookie of the Year after putting up Aaron Judge-like numbers in his first 100 games. When facing right-handers, he's hitting .352 with a .455 OBP and a 219 wRC+. Against lefties, that drops to a .186 average with a .258 OBP and a 71 wRC+.

That said, he's still plenty dangerous against southpaws.

The newcomer was scratched from his scheduled start on Sunday, paving the way for his debut in West Sacramento on Tuesday. His season began in Double-A, where he went 7-2 and posted a 2.51 ERA with a 1.13 WHIP.

He was moved up to Triple-A at the beginning of August, and was arguably even better in his six starts, holding a 2.83 ERA with a 1.05 WHIP. His walk rate has hovered right around 10% on the season between the two stops, but his strikeout rate has been an impressive 31.9% across both levels, while sitting at 30.8% in Triple-A.

According to FanGraphs, he has three pitches that grade out above average on the 20-80 scout scale, but his command is a work in progress. They add, "Early tends to pitch off of his slider and then uses a changeup (his nastiest pitch) as a finisher. Though his fastballs (a mix of sinkers and elevated four-seamers) tend to only sit 92-94 and peak a little above that, Early’s release looks tough to pick up."

With a solid pitch mix and a bit of deception, the A's could have a hard time facing the lefty the first time through the order. It will be interesting to watch Jacob Wilson's contact-heavy approach against Early the first time they face off, and it will be equally interesting to see what adjustments the A's make the second time they see him.