It looks like Connelly Early isn’t going to be the only WooSox pitcher making the trip to Sacramento this week, as Tommy Cassell of the Worcester Telegram & Gazette is reporting that lefty Kyle Harrison is being called up by the Red Sox (80-65).
Per Cassell, Harrison will be traveling from Syracuse, NY (WooSox beginning a six-game series with the Mets’ Triple-A affiliate on Tuesday) out to Sacramento on Tuesday, and will be an option for the big league club as soon as Wednesday’s series finale against the Athletics (66-79).
Cassell said on X that with Early pitching today for Boston, the roster move for Kyle Harrison is still up in the air.
As you may remember, Harrison was considered the prize of the return in the Rafael Devers trade with Giants (73-71) earlier this season. Along with Harrison, the Red Sox received reliever Jordan Hicks (yikes), along with a pair of minor leaguers - the Giants' No. 4 overall prospect James Tibbs III and pitcher Jose Bello. Tibbs ended up being moved at the deadline to the Dodgers for Dustin May (yikes).
So until we see what Harrison brings to the big league club, the Devers trade has netted Boston an incredibly inconsistent reliever in Hicks (6.95 ERA), and a starting pitcher headed to the 15-day with a phantom injury in May (7-11, 4.96 ERA) after over a month of struggles on the mound in a Red Sox uniform.
Meanwhile, Devers has turned it on for San Francisco of late, bouncing back from his initial slump with the Giants and becoming their best hitter as they make a late push for the final wild card spot in the National League.
Harrison is someone who has had success in the majors before, starting 35 games for San Francisco across three seasons from 2023 to 2025. He’s 9-9 as a starter, and has a career ERA of 4.48 in 39 appearances.
Last season at age 22, Harrison logged 124.1 innings at the big league level, and flashed at times as someone who had the potential to be a very good big league starter.
Despite that potential, the Red Sox immediately optioned Harrison to Worcester upon acquiring the 23-year-old in June. And since joining their starting rotation, the 6-foot-2 lefty has a 4-2 record with a 3.75 ERA across 12 starts and 50.1 innings pitched.
As it stands now, Harrison’s former WooSox teammate Payton Tolle (0-1, 7.56 ERA), who shined in his MLB debut at Fenway Park on August 29, is slated to take the bump for Boston on Wednesday. As evidenced by his ERA, his second career start left much to be desired, with the Diamondbacks sitting on his fastball to the tune of 5 hits and 5 earned runs while walking four and only striking out two across 3.0 innings pitched.
But with Harrison set to touch down in Sactown on Tuesday afternoon, you have to wonder if Boston decides to push Tolle back in some capacity, utilizing Harrison to give their top pitching prospect an extra day of rest - or skipping him entirely - as they manage his pitch count ahead of a probable postseason run.
With how Boston’s schedule in September lines up, this series in Sacramento is a must-win situation. How manager Alex Cora decides to deploy his young arms over the next 48 hours could have massive implications for his team’s playoff seeding for October.
Regardless of his decision for Wednesday, Cora will be hoping his offense is able to match their effort from Monday again on Tuesday night, as the Red Sox spanked the A’s in a 7-0 win that saw Garrett Crochet striking out 10 across 7.0 innings of work.
Tonight’s first pitch is set for 10:05 p.m. ET with the A’s throwing lefty Jeffrey Springs (10-10, 4.13).
Tom Carroll is a contributor for Roundtable, with boots-on-the-ground coverage of all things Boston sports. He's a digital content producer for WEEI.com, and a native of Lincoln, RI.