Red Sox’s Connelly Early, Teammates Talk Historic MLB Debut: ‘Pretty Sick’

Not too shabby. Boston Red Sox rookie Connelly Early turned heads Tuesday in his MLB debut. The left-hander struck out 11 batters during five shutout innings, helping the Red Sox beat the Athletics, 6-0.

Early gave up just five hits and one walk while throwing 90 pitches, 61 of which were strikes. After the game, the 23-year-old was still trying to process his appearance which saw him tie Don Aase’s 1977 franchise record for strikeouts in a Major League debut.

“Hasn’t really settled in too much yet, but we won the game, and that’s what I want to do every single day I go out there to pitch, no matter where it is,” Early said, according to MLB.com’s Theo DeRosa.

Early’s dominating debut had the clubhouse buzzing.

“He was really good,” manager Alex Cora said, according to the Boston Herald’s Gabrielle Starr. “He was prepared too, which was eye-opening. He did his own homework, went through it with the coaching staff, and executed. There was some traffic there, but he never panicked. … He was outstanding.”

“I can’t really think of a better way to start your career,” outfielder Rob Refsnyder said, per DeRosa.

“He had a pretty sick performance,” first baseman Romy Gonzalez said.

Early had an early lead thanks to Gonzalez and Refsnyder, both of whom hit home runs in the top of the first inning. Refsnyder’s three-run blast went 463 feet, making it the longest hit by a Red Sox player this season.

But all anyone was talking about after the game was Early’s debut. And why not? Consider this information flushed out by Starr:

“Of the 23,599 players in MLB history, Early is only the 17th pitcher to fan at least 11 batters in his debut, and the ninth to do so without allowing a run. The late, great Red Sox legend Luis Tiant also punched out 11 in his MLB debut, but with Cleveland on July 19, 1964; his performance was exactly four years after Hall of Famer Juan Marichal racked up 12 in his first career game on July 19, 1960. Before Early, the most recent debut of this ilk was Freddy Peralta of the Milwaukee Brewers on May 13, 2018. … He is the first Red Sox pitcher with at least five scoreless innings in his debut since Tanner Houck on Sept. 15, 2020.”

Not too shabby.