Connelly

Early

Early was a bit all over the place in this one as he piled up six strikeouts while also walking four, hitting one batter and uncorking a wild pitch. He settled in nicely after serving up a leadoff homer to Yandy Díaz, keeping Tampa Bay off the scoreboard until Jonathan Aranda delivered a go-ahead RBI single in the fifth inning. The positive news for fantasy managers is that the strikeouts have consistently been there of late with Early topping five strikeouts in five of his last seven starts since May 2. He’ll wrap up a two-start week with a home matchup against the Rangers on Sunday.

But not before the Yankees got people in the gates and sold some food. Ranger Suárez and Will Warren were scheduled to start tonight’s game. Suarez will go tomorrow, with Connelly Early following on Monday, but the Yankees have decided to push Warren back to Monday against Cleveland and keep Cam Schlittler in line to face the Red Sox on four days’ rest.

Early was burned by the long ball as homers by Coby Mayo and Pete Alonso accounted for most of the damage against him in this one. The lackluster outing snapped a streak of four consecutive starts where he had allowed three earned runs or fewer dating back to May 8. The 24-year-old southpaw holds a strong 3.26 ERA, 1.18 WHIP and 63/23 K/BB ratio across 66 1/3 innings across 12 starts this season. He looks and feels like a top-40 range fantasy starter for years to come. He’ll face a tough challenge his next time out with a road tilt against the Yankees on Sunday. It’ll be a rematch of last year’s postseason when he locks horns with Cam Schlittler at Yankee Stadium.

Early picked up his fifth win of the season in this one, turning in yet another solid start against the Braves after allowing two earned runs over five innings earlier this month. Early threw 65 of his 97 pitches for strikes and managed to keep the Braves in check despite allowing leadoff walks in the first two innings. The lefty closes out the month of May with a solid 3.07 ERA while going 3-1 in his starts. His next start is scheduled for Tuesday against a suddenly hot Orioles offense.

Early struck out five and walked one to earn the quality start. The young southpaw gave up multiple free passes in each of his first five starts of 2026 but has done so just once over his past five. He’ll carry a 3.33 ERA into a dangerous matchup next time out, at home against the Braves.

Early surrendered homers to Drake Baldwin in the first and Michael Harris II in the fourth, but he did a nice job otherwise in stranding five runners. That he’s been able to strand 86 percent of his baserunners this year is a big reason why has a 3.21 ERA against a 4.58 FIP and a 4.11 xERA. Early remains a lesser option in mixed leagues, but his matchup against the Royals next week is reasonable.

Early couldn’t have asked for a much better outing in this one. The lefty was in command of the strike zone all night and held the Rays to just four hits, all of which were singles. He managed to work his way out of a bases-loaded jam in the third inning when he forced Junior Caminero to ground into a double play to end the frame, but it was mostly smooth sailing for Early on Friday. It was a much-needed rebound after he allowed five earned runs in his previous start. Early will look to build on his best outing of the season in his next start, which is scheduled for Thursday against the Phillies.

Early has usually been able to pitch his way out of trouble this season, but he finally gave up a big blow on Brice Matthews’ three-run homer today. The previous four homers he gave up this year were all solo shots, and the league was batting just .140 against him with runners on. Early’s 3.79 ERA is still fine, but his 20.5 percent strikeout rate, his 11.2 percent walk rate and 40 percent groundball rate are all mediocre. He needs to do better in two of those if he expects to keep that ERA under 4.00 going forward. He’ll face the Rays next week.

Early struck out four, walked one, and allowed four hits in the outing, lowering his ERA to 2.84 for the season. The young left-hander allowed solo shots to Samuel Basallo and Gunnar Henderson, but otherwise kept the Orioles off the board in the afternoon matinee. Early’s next start lines up as a tough one at home against the Astros.

Early has a nice 2.88 ERA, but there just isn’t much backing it up. His strikeout rate is average. His walk rate is high. His exit velocity numbers are bad. There’s still reason for optimism for the long term, but aside from the ERA, most everything right now suggests he’s currently a slightly below average starter. He’s currently lined up to face the Orioles on Sunday, though if the Red Sox make some moves this weekend, he could be pushed back to Monday against the Blue Jays.