Rookie left-hander Connelly Early will make his Washington Nationals’ debut when he starts Saturday afternoon against the New York Mets in the middle contest of a three-game series in the nation’s capital.
The start time was moved from 4:05 p.m. to 12:35 p.m. ET due to storms expected in the area.
Early, obtained from the Boston Red Sox for infielder Curtis Mead on July 26, was on the injured list with elbow inflammation at the time. He was 7-5 with a 3.44 ERA in 17 starts for Boston, his last a four-scoreless-innings effort against Washington on June 30, when he left due to the injury.
Now, after two rehab starts at Triple-A Rochester, the 24-year-old Virginia native will make his first Nationals appearance.
“I’m just excited to get him back out there,” Washington manager Blake Butera said. “I’m not going to look too much into what he does results-wise. But the fact he’s going to go into the offseason feeling healthy is important.”
Butera said Early will be limited to 45 to 50 pitches and will be followed by Jake Irvin in a bulk relief role.
Early never has faced the Mets.
New York (73-87) will go with a rookie of its own as 23-year-old Jonah Tong (2-2, 4.21 ERA) makes his seventh appearance and fourth start of the season.
Tong allowed one unearned run in six innings against the Baltimore Orioles on Sept. 14. Last time out, he lost to the Philadelphia Phillies 7-2 on Sunday, yielding four runs on five hits in 4 2/3 innings. He struck out five and walked four.
“I don’t think he was far off today, I thought he did some good things,” Mets manager Andy Green said of Tong, who has yet to face the Nationals. “The changeup has been really good for him since he’s been up. He’s got a lot of strikeouts with it, messes with timing.”
Dylan Crews homered and CJ Abrams had a two-run single for the Nationals (76-84) in their 7-6 victory over the Mets on Friday.
Abrams is hitting .317 with four doubles, three home runs, 10 RBIs and eight runs over his last 11 games.
Josiah Gray pitched the ninth inning on Friday for his first major league save. After missing most of 2024, all of 2025 and most of this season following Tommy John surgery, Gray was making his third appearance and first at Nationals Park since April 4, 2024.
“It’s been a long road, but the fans are still behind me,” said Gray, who was acquired from the Dodgers in the Max Scherzer-Trea Turner trade in 2021. “I felt it with every pitch, so I can’t wait to go out there next time.”
With their loss, the Mets are locked into last place in the National League East.
Carson Benge went deep on Friday to become the first Mets rookie to hit 20 home runs and steal 20 bases in a season. In his last eight games, he is batting .379 with two doubles, two home runs, six RBIs and six runs.
“I think when you look what he’s done defensively, what he’s done offensively, when you put all that together and add in the [stolen] bases, he’s done all of those things, in my mind, as well as any rookie in baseball,” Green said.
–Field Level Media
