Boston Red Sox

Early has allowed lots of traffic on the bases, but has found his way out of several jams through three starts.

Red Sox starting pitcher Connelly Early hasn’t been as sharp thus far this season as he was in his first four career starts in 2025.

He’s allowed 13 hits and eight walks as well as hit a batter in his first three outings of 2026. He has yet to earn a victory to his personal record.

However, Early has allowed just four earned runs total and hasn’t been handed a loss yet.

Early’s latest final line, this time against the St. Louis Cardinals on the road, looked eerily similar to his first two starts: 4.1 innings, five hits, two walks, one hit batter, and five strikeouts. Heavy traffic in his early innings has been a common occurrence, but it has yet to result in an onslaught of runs.

The 24-year-old left-hander has struggled with his command in each start. Early chalked up last weekend’s shaky mechanics against the Padres to Boston’s sub-40-degree weather, but that wasn’t the case Friday in St. Louis. Temperatures were in the low 60s and upper 50s as the game progressed.

Early’s lack of command has led to high pitch counts, forcing him out of the contest earlier than he would like. Early tossed 86 pitches without finishing the fifth inning Friday.

Red Sox manager Alex Cora said postgame that Early’s mechanics were inconsistent, leading to an inefficient start to the series for the club.

“He wasn’t efficient. He was good, but not efficient,” Cora said of Early. “He was on-and-off as far as command.”

The second inning was the difference between Early pitching deeper into the game and getting pulled after recording an out in the fifth. A leadoff double by Cardinals third baseman Ramon Urias, a walk to shortstop Masyn Winn, and a single by left fielder Jose Fermin loaded the bases in what felt like a nightmare scenario for the Red Sox.

Early walked away from the frame with only a scratch. A sacrifice fly via center fielder Victor Scott II gave St. Louis an early 1-0 lead, but Early left the score there. He recorded two strikeouts in the inning to work around the jam and put Boston in a manageable spot.

Early spoke with reporters about what he thought went wrong in that inning.

“Two walks in there doesn’t help, for sure,” he said. “Just trying to execute pitches, trying to be a little bit too fine with the pitches. Just gotta stay on attack.”

Early didn’t allow another run the rest of the way, but he did turn the game over to the bullpen a bit too soon. With the score 2-1 in favor of the Red Sox (courtesy of a Trevor Story RBI groundout and a Trevor Story steal of home in the fourth inning), reliever Zack Kelly entered in the fifth to face right-handed hitter Jordan Walker after Early recorded the first out.

Early expressed dissatisfaction with his inability to pitch later into starts postgame.

“Had to bring out the bullpen early, which is always tough,” he said. “Need to be able to get through five or six and then be able to turn the ball over to the bullpen. … Gotta get deeper into games.”

The Red Sox ultimately lost the game in the fifth after Kelly gave up the lead rather quickly. Kelly allowed a walk and a pair of singles consecutively, which tied the game at two runs apiece before throwing a wild pitch and allowing a sac fly to put the Cardinals up 3-2. That ended up being Friday’s final score.

The loss dropped Boston’s record to 4-9 overall and 1-6 on the road. The team’s away starter ERA stands at 4.81 on the year, a concerning trend early on.

The Red Sox will look to even the weekend series with St. Louis Saturday night with first pitch set for 7:15 p.m. Eastern Time. The game will be broadcast on FOX.