The Red Sox will carry one of their two top left-handed pitching prospects on the Opening Day roster. Boston optioned Payton Tolle to minor league camp this evening, alongside righties Tyler Uberstine and Zack Kelly.
Ari Alexander of Boston 7 News reports that Connelly Early has been informed he’ll break camp. Chris Cotillo of MassLive adds that righty Johan Oviedo is also going to be on the active roster, leaving some questions about how the Sox will order their rotation.
Garrett Crochet and Sonny Gray are lined up for the first two games of their opening series in Cincinnati. Ranger Suárez and Brayan Bello are expected to start the first two games of next week’s set in Houston, so one of Early or Oviedo will start on Sunday against the Reds. If the Red Sox don’t want to run a six-man rotation, they could use an Early/Oviedo tandem start or have the latter work out of the bullpen to begin the year.
Early and Tolle each debuted late last season. Tolle throws a bit harder and places a little more highly on most prospect rankings. Early found more small sample success and was tabbed to start Game 3 of last fall’s Wild Card Series against the Yankees. Both pitchers showed well this spring. Early struck out 16 while allowing only four runs (three earned) over 17 innings. Tolle fanned 13 opponents across 10 2/3 frames of three-run ball.
Oviedo, acquired from the Pirates over the offseason in a trade built around rookie outfielder Jhostynxon Garcia, pitched 11 1/3 innings of two-run ball this spring. He struck out 14 but struggled with his command, issuing six walks and hitting a batter. Oviedo entered camp as the favorite for the fifth starter role after turning in a 3.57 ERA with a 25% strikeout rate over nine starts last year. He had missed all of 2024 and the first half of ’25 due to Tommy John surgery and a subsequent lat injury.
Early and Tolle are each rookie eligible and meet the prospect criteria for the Prospect Promotion Incentive. Unless the Sox recall Tolle within the first couple weeks of the season, they wouldn’t be able to net a draft choice if he wins Rookie of the Year. Early could land the Sox a pick if he holds his MLB roster spot all year and pitches well enough to meet the awards threshold: a Rookie of the Year win or top three Cy Young finish within his first three seasons.
