Former Boston Red Sox left-hander Connelly Early will finally make a start for the Washington Nationals, targeting Sept. 26 against the New York Mets after a brutal three-month layoff, according to statements reported from Nationals president of baseball operations Paul Toboni.
The left-hander has one more bullpen session to clear on Sept. 20, according to the report.
Early arrives at this moment as a former Boston Red Sox prospect whose electric big-league debut a year ago set a franchise strikeout mark. His path to the nation’s capital ran through a stubborn elbow injury, a trade-deadline swap and a grinding rehab assignment that stretched across three levels of the minors.
Boston’s front office watched Early rocket up prospect boards, from off the Red Sox’s Top 30 entering 2024 to a No. 3 ranking in the system and a top-60 overall slot entering this season, a recent ranking update showed.
He backed up that rating in 2025, going 10-3 with a 2.60 ERA and 132 strikeouts across Double-A Portland and Triple-A Worcester before Boston called him up in September. His debut against the Athletics produced five scoreless innings and 11 strikeouts, tying a Red Sox franchise record for a pitcher’s first big-league start, MLB.com chronicled.
Early’s Elbow Injury and Trade to Washington
Early walked off the mound in Boston’s June 30 start against Washington after four scoreless innings, departing with left elbow discomfort, per DraftKings Network‘s injury tracker. The Red Sox placed him on the injured list the next day with posterior elbow inflammation. A second opinion from Dr. Keith Meister found no structural damage, but Boston still shipped him out shortly before the trade deadline.
Boston dealt Early to the Nationals on July 25 for infielder Curtis Mead, MLB Trade Rumors reported. Early had recorded a 3.44 earned run average over his first 17 starts in Boston at the time of the deal. Washington expected him back within weeks. Instead, forearm tightness in August pushed him to the 60-day injured list, and his return crept toward September before he finally began throwing in games again, working through the Nationals’ farm system at Double-A Harrisburg and Triple-A Rochester.
| CONNELLY EARLY — CAREER PITCHING STATS (REGULAR SEASON) | ||||||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Season | Age | Team | Lg | WAR | W | L | W-L% | ERA | G | GS | GF | CG | SHO | SV | IP | H | R | ER | HR | BB | IBB | SO |
| 2025 | 23 | BOS | AL | 0.6 | 1 | 2 | .333 | 2.33 | 4 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 19.1 | 17 | 6 | 5 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 29 |
| 2026 | 24 | BOS | AL | 1.8 | 7 | 5 | .583 | 3.44 | 17 | 17 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 91.2 | 81 | 35 | 35 | 15 | 34 | 0 | 93 |
| 2 Yrs | 2.4 | 8 | 7 | .533 | 3.24 | 21 | 21 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 111.0 | 98 | 41 | 40 | 15 | 38 | 0 | 122 | |||
| 162 Game Avg | 3.9 | 13 | 11 | .533 | 3.24 | 34 | 34 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 180 | 159 | 66 | 65 | 24 | 62 | 0 | 198 | |||
| Source: Baseball Reference — baseball-reference.com/players/e/earlyco01.shtml. Regular season only. | ||||||||||||||||||||||
Nationals’ Expectations for Connelly Early’s Return
Nationals president of baseball operations Paul Toboni, who helped draft Early as a high-ranking executive in Boston before joining Washington’s front office, has made no secret of how much he values the pickup.
“You all will see it soon, but he’s just a stud. A stud. A competitor. Incredibly composed out there,” Toboni said, as quoted by MLB.com’s Jessica Camerato. He added that Early “brings great energy to the clubhouse” and called him “one of my favorites that I’ve been around.”
That praise comes with team control running into the early 2030s, giving Washington a long runway to build around the 24-year-old. Early’s career big-league line sits at 8-7 with a 3.24 ERA and 122 strikeouts across 111 innings over 21 starts, Baseball-Reference’s official pitching log shows.
Born in Midlothian, Virginia, he pitched at the U.S. Military Academy at West Point before transferring to the University of Virginia, where he went 12-3 with a 3.09 ERA in his lone draft-eligible season, Boston took the 6-foot-3 lefty in the fifth round of the 2023 draft.
Ex-Red Sox Pitcher Connelly Early Finally Gets Date For 1st Start With New Team