After the game, Connelly Early said the mound is a place of peace for him. For the first time in three months, Early was back in his happy place and on a big league mound. He may be wearing a different uniform now, but the sense of joy he gets by being on the mound has not changed.
Early’s love for the game is a big reason why he wanted to get back on the mound before the season was over. He was not able to fully build back up, but Connelly Early felt good and was ready to take the mound on a pitch
count.
Overall, the day could not have gone much better for him. Early threw three scoreless innings, only allowing one hit and striking out one batter in the process. He was pounding the strike zone and showed off his full arsenal. Early’s one strikeout came on a nasty sweeper to A.J. Ewing.
One of the best parts about Early is the fact that he has so many weapons. With all the options he has, there should always be at least a couple pitches he can turn to. In this outing, Early said his stuff was “alright”. He thought his shapes were in a good spot, but thought his command left a bit to be desired. Early said he could have worked at the top of the zone with his fastball more effectively.
Even without elite execution, Early was still able to get through the Mets lineup pretty easily. He did a great job generating soft contact and got whiffs when he needed to. This outing by Early made me really excited to see what he can do next season.
While the command of his changeup was not great today, the pitch popped on stuff models. With a very low spin rate and lots of movement, the pitch is absolutely filthy. If he can command that pitch better next season, I think it can be an elite swing and miss offering.
Moving forward, one of Early’s goals is to stay durable. He mentioned that he has not been able to make it through a full MLB season and that is a goal of his for next year. Blake Butera mentioned that Early could stand to put on a little more muscle and that could help him add velocity.
Despite being fairly established after this year, Early is still just 24 years old. As a young pitcher, there is still plenty of room for growth. That is what makes the organization so excited about Early. They clearly view him as a major piece moving forward. Obviously they would not trade a player like Curtis Mead if they thought otherwise. However, it is also in the way they talk about Early.
When I asked Blake Butera what surprised him about Early after getting to know him, he talked about his maturity and confidence. Butera can just see that confidence in the way Early walks around and interacts with his teammates.
After this season, that confidence is only natural. In his rookie year, Early finished with a 3.33 ERA with 94 strikeouts in 94.1 innings. Despite missing time with injury, this was still a very positive season for the 24 year old.
Getting Early back on the mound was a big positive for the Nats. It would have been tough to wait the whole offseason and potentially longer to see the prize of Paul Toboni’s first deadline. Outings like this show you why Toboni traded a bat like Curtis Mead, who he loved. The best is still yet to come for Early. He may not show much emotion, but he feels a sense of joy and comfort on the mound. Hopefully he can make the Nationals Park mound home for years to come.
