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Boston Red Sox manager Chad Tracy explained that Connelly Early and Payton Tolle were sent to Boston early to acclimate to conditions.
The Boston Red Sox began a series in Denver against the Colorado Rockies on Monday night, but not every Red Sox pitcher made the trip. Rookie starting pitchers Connelly Early and Payton Tolle were actually sent back to Boston early.
Both had pitched in the previous series against the Seattle Mariners and weren’t scheduled to pitch against the Rockies. So, the Red Sox made the decision not to have them come to the altitude of Colorado, and instead made the cross-country flight to Boston a few days in advance of the rest of the team.
“Just to get them out of these elements and give them a couple of days to reacclimate,” interim manager Chad Tracy said.
The Red Sox have a four-game series against the New York Yankees that begins at Fenway Park on Thursday. Tolle and Early are both scheduled to start in that series. So, this should hopefully give them some amount of edge.
“We know they’re not going to pitch this series,” pitching coach Andrew Bailey said. “So getting them back in the good sleep patterns, recovery [is worthwhile]. We have plenty of staff [at Fenway Park who] will take care of them and get them what they need.”
Bailey would go on to add to that, noting that this is a fairly common approach teams take.
“A lot of teams do it,” Bailey said. “Get back east a little bit early, get back in the right time zone, and make sure we can maximize recovery. That is important.”
Payton Tolle and Connelly Early are Promising Pitchers for the Boston Red Sox
Both Payton Tolle and Connelly Early made their MLB debuts a season ago, with Early even making a start in the AL Wild Card against the Yankees. Still, this is both of their first full seasons in MLB, with Early cracking the Opening Day rotation and Tolle making his debut this season on April 23rd.
Early has a 6-5 record with a 3.64 ERA, 1.273 WHIP, and 8.7 strikeouts per nine in 81.2 innings pitched. However, he has had an issue with home runs, giving up 1.5 home runs per nine.
Meanwhile, Tolle has a 3-5 record with a 3.08 ERA, 1.088 WHIP, and 8.7 strikeouts per nine. That’s in 64.1 innings pitched. Far from a finished product, though, Tolle has been criticized for relying too much on his fastball and not having strong enough secondary pitches.
In both cases, these are young pitchers who still have plenty of room to grow. If they do that, they can help be the backbone for the Red Sox rotation for years to come.
Red Sox Ace Garrett Crochet is Progressing Slowly
The Red Sox need both Payton Tolle and Connelly Early at their best, in no small part because the rotation is dealing with injuries. That includes the notable injury to ace Garrett Crochet.
Before Monday’s game, Chad Tracy shared what he could on Crochet. However, it wasn’t good news. Crochet hasn’t begun throwing yet, even though the team is optimistic about his recovery from the shoulder injury.
Crochet has been out since April 25th. Meanwhile, Brayan Bello was sent to the minors amid his own struggles. So, the Red Sox need their youth movement of starting pitchers to step up if they have any hope of turning their season around.
Dan Morrison After graduating from UMass in 2019, Dan Morrison quickly began a career in sports journalism and digital media. That has seen him work both as a contributing writer at several publications, as well as spending time on the National News Desk at On3. During that time, he has spent the majority of his time covering football, both at the college and NFL levels. Currently residing in Central Florida, his focus with Heavy is on the NFL. More about Dan Morrison