Boston Red Sox
Early he allowed a lot of traffic on the bases, but found his way out of several jams through three starts.
Connelly Early allowed one run in the Red Sox’s 3-2 loss on Friday. Jeff Roberson/AP
Red Sox shortstop Connelly Early hasn’t been as sharp so far this season as he has been in his first four games of 2025.
He has allowed 13 hits and eight walks plus a strikeout in his first three games of 2026. He has yet to have a win on his personal record.
However, Early has allowed just four earned runs and has yet to suffer a loss.
It looked like Early’s last streak, this time against St. Louis. Lewis’ Cardinals on the road looked eerily similar to his first two games: 4.1 innings, five hits, two walks, one hit, five strikeouts. Heavy traffic in his early innings has been common, but has yet to lead to an onslaught of runs.
The 24-year-old left-hander struggled to control his drive in each start. The shaky mechanics that occurred last weekend against the Padres were caught early by the sub-40-degree weather in Boston, but that wasn’t the case Friday in St. Louis. Temperatures were in the 60s and upper 50s as the game progressed.
Early’s lack of leadership led to a high pitch count, forcing him out of the competition earlier than he wanted. 86 pitches were thrown early without finishing the fifth inning on Friday.
Red Sox manager Alex Cora said after the game that Early’s mechanics had been inconsistent, which led to an ineffective start to the series for the club.
“It wasn’t effective. It was good, but it wasn’t effective.” Cora said From early on. “He was spotty about it.”
The second inning was the difference between going deep early in the game and pulling away after scoring an out in the fifth inning. A lead-off double by Cardinals third baseman Ramon Urías, a walk to shortstop Masyn Wynn, and a single by left fielder Jose Fermin loaded the bases in what looked like a nightmare scenario for the Red Sox.
Walked away early from the tire with just one scratch. A sacrifice fly via center fielder Victor Scott II gave St. Louis an early 1-0 lead, but an early hit left the score there. He recorded two hits in the inning to overcome the jam and put Boston in a manageable position.
He spoke early with reporters about what he thought went wrong in that half.
“Walking twice there definitely doesn’t help,” he said. “Just trying to make throws, trying to be a little good at making throws. Just gotta keep attacking.”
Early didn’t allow another run the rest of the way, but he delivered the game to the bullpen very early. With the score 2-1 in favor of the Red Sox (courtesy of a Trevor Story RBI and Trevor Story stealing home in the fourth inning), reliever Zack Kelly entered the fifth inning to face right-handed hitter Jordan Walker after recording an early first out.
Early expressed his dissatisfaction with not being able to play later in the early postgame.
“I had to get the bullpen out early, which is always tough,” he said. “You’ve got to be able to get through five or six plays and then be able to get the ball into the bullpen. … You’ve got to get deeper into games.”
The Red Sox eventually lost the game in the fifth inning after Kelly gave up the lead rather quickly. Kelly allowed a walk and a pair of singles in a row, tying the game at two runs each before throwing a wild pitch and allowing a sac fly to put the Cardinals up 3-2. The final result ended up being Friday.
The loss dropped Boston’s record to 4-9 overall and 1-6 on the road. The team’s on-base ERA on the road is 4.81 this year, which is a troubling trend early on.
The Red Sox will look forward to a weekend series with St. Louis on Saturday night with the first pitch scheduled for 7:15 PM ET. The match will be broadcast on FOX.
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