Connelly Early wants to have a special outing for the Boston Red Sox on Thursday, of course.
It's the decisive Game 3 of the AL Wild Card Series between his Red Sox and the New York Yankees. And the southpaw rookie gets the ball.
Even if Early doesn't pitch well, though, he'll have made history.
He's the first pitcher to ever start a winner-take-all postseason game within 30 days of an MLB debut, per OptaStats.
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Early had a 2.60 ERA in the minors this season before his promotion, which came in part because of an elbow injury to Dustin May. Early is ranked the No. 6 prospect in Boston's system by MLB Pipeline.
The lefty struck out 11 batters in his MLB debut.
The Yankees will counter with Cam Schlittler, another rookie, so if one group of experienced hitters found a way to bash a young pitcher around, that could make all the difference in deciding the series.
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The first two games have mostly lived to the hype of Yankees-Red Sox, for sure. They've been close and low scoring.
Something likely has to give in Game 3. One of the pitchers will start allowing homers, or extra-base hits at least.
The Fenway faithful will surely get behind Early on Thursday night in the hopes of toppling their bitter rival. And given the fact that Early is already making history, he might as well wrap up some more with a clutch win.
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