Red Sox to promote pitching prospects Connelly Early, David Sandlin to Triple-A Worcester

The Red Sox are promoting pitching prospects Connelly Early and David Sandlin from Double-A Portland to Triple-A Worcester, as was first reported by Andrew Parker of Beyond the Monster.

Early, 23, and Sandlin, 24, are currently regarded by Baseball America as Boston’s Nos. 11 and 12 prospects, which rank sixth and seventh among pitchers in the organization, respectively. Both hurlers are moving up a level after first arriving in Portland a little over a year ago and putting together encouraging starts to their 2025 seasons.

Early, a left-hander, posted a 2.51 ERA (2.59 FIP) with a staff-leading 96 strikeouts to 29 walks over 15 appearances (12 starts) spanning 71 2/3 innings in which he held opponents to a .202 batting average. Sandlin, a right-hander, forged a 3.61 ERA (3.29 FIP) with 86 strikeouts to 27 walks across 17 outings (13 starts) spanning a staff-leading 82 1/3 innings in which opponents batted .227 against him.

Among 24 pitchers who have thrown at least 70 innings in the Eastern League this year, Early ranks second in strikeouts per nine innings (12.06), strikeout rate (32.3 percent), swinging-strike rate (14.9 percent), FIP, and xFIP (2.90), third in batting average against, groundball rate (49.7 percent), and ERA, and sixth in WHIP (1.13). Sandlin, meanwhile, ranks fifth in FIP, sixth in xFIP (3.50), seventh in strikeout rate (25.4 percent), eighth in strikeouts per nine innings (9.40), ninth in swinging-strike rate (11.7 percent) and WHIP (1.18), 10th in batting average against and ERA, 11th in walks per nine innings (2.95), and 12th in walk rate (8 percent), per FanGraphs.

Early was originally selected by the Red Sox in the fifth round (151st overall) of the 2023 draft out of Virginia (by way of Army) and received a $408,500 signing bonus. The 6-foot-3, 195-pound southpaw features a 92-95 mph fastball that tops out at 96 mph, an 82-85 mph changeup, an 80-83 mph sweeper, an 84-87 mph slider, and a 77-80 mph curveball, as noted in his SoxProspects.com scouting report.

Sandlin was acquired from the Royals for reliever John Schreiber last February after originally being selected by Kansas City in the 11th round (325th overall) of the 2022 draft out of Oklahoma (by way of Eastern Oklahoma State). As highlighted in his SoxProspects.com scouting report, the 6-foot-4, 215-pound righty operates with a 94-97 mph fastball that can reach 99-100 mph, a 90-93 mph slider, an 85-88 mph sweeper, an 88-91 mph splitter, and a 77-81 mph curveball.

Unlike Early, Sandlin can become eligible for the Rule 5 Draft for the first time this winter if he is not added to Boston’s 40-man roster by the protection deadline in November. That could make him an intriguing trade candidate in the coming days if the Red Sox elect to deal from their pool of Rule 5-eligible prospects in an effort to improve the big-league club like they did last summer.

Barring a move involving either before Thursday’s trade deadline, though, Early and Sandlin are slated to join a starting rotation mix in Worcester that currently includes the likes of Cooper Criswell and Kyle Harrison (who are both on the 40-man roster) as well as Isaac Coffey, Robert Stock, and Tyler Uberstine. The WooSox open a six-game series against the Lehigh Valley IronPigs at Polar Park on Tuesday.