October pressure falls on the shoulders of rookie starters as the Red Sox and Yankees clash in Game 3

NEW YORK — It’s rare to have two teams fighting for their playoff lives to start two rookie pitchers; that’s exactly where both clubs find themselves: their seasons resting squarely on the shoulders of two untested, unproven starting pitchers.

For Boston, it’s Connelly Early, the calm and cool 23-year-old, who has just four big league starts under his belt. He’s shown flashes of brilliance through those four starts, owning a 2.33 ERA and going 1-2 with a 2.33 ERA while striking out 29 batters and walking just four.

On Thursday night, he will pitch in the biggest game of his life. No pressure, am I amirite?

All week in the Bronx, Early has been composed and collected; when talking to him, you’d never guess he was a rookie about to inject himself into the Red Sox and Yankees rivalry on the biggest stage in baseball.

When the season began and he was in spring training, he never imagined he’d be pitching for the Red Sox in such a meaningful game.

“No, but I’m in that position now.” Early said he didn’t think he’d have this opportunity. “So I’ve got to go out there and trust my stuff.”

The sample size is small for the southpaw, but his manager, Alex Cora, knows his stuff plays at the big league level.

“The fastball plays and the breaking ball is good,” he said. “When you’re around the zone and you’ve got good stuff, you’re going to get swing-and-miss.”

His teammates have also taken notice, including ace Garrett Crochet.

“I knew that I had the stuff to belong (as a rookie), and that’s kind of what I see in Early,” Crochet said Monday during his media availability. “When Early came up, it was a sense of comfortability in who he was. Not in a boisterous way where he’s being loud in the clubhouse, but just more so in that he knows who he is. And I think that you could see that in (Kyle) Harrison as well.”

Early is in this spot because Lucas Giolito is out for the remainder of the postseason with an elbow injury. It’s next man up time for Boston and Early is ready to deliver.

“Yeah, I’m super excited about it,” Early said about starting Game 3 following the Sox’ loss on Wednesday night. “I have a really good feeling and am just ready to get out there.”

Early will be making some history when he takes the mound at Yankee Stadium. At 23 years old, the lefty will be the youngest pitcher to start a postseason game since Babe Ruth did in Game 2 of the 1916 World Series between the Red Sox and Brooklyn Robins, according to MLB.com’s Sarah Langs. Ruth was 21 years and 246 days old at the time of his start.

The Virginia native learned after Game 2 from pitching coach Andrew Bailey that he’d get the ball on Thursday night. His immediate reaction?

“Let’s go,” Early said. “Let’s do it.”

For New York, they’ll send Massachusetts native, right-handed starter Cam Schittler to the mound. The 24-year-old hopes to give the Yankees quality innings and help send his team into the ALDS this weekend to play the Toronto Blue Jays.

“I take pride in being from Boston. [But] when it came to my career and where I want to be, this is where I want to be,” said Schlittler to reporters on Wednesday afternoon, prior to Game 2. “I’m very fortunate for the Yankee organization. If I had to choose between the two, I wouldn’t change [anything].”

He had an excellent rookie campaign, posting a 2.96 ERA in 14 starts over 73 innings. The Yankees went 9-5 in Schlittler’s starts, and he has shown he belongs pitching under baseball’s brightest lights.

“I’ve been super impressed with, first and foremost, his stuff,” Yankee manager Aaron Boone said before Game 2 when explaining his decision to go with the rookie. “He’s got big stuff. It is a big fastball. The cutter and this curveball are really good pitches for him. Really good competitor.

“I like how he has handled every situation he has found himself in this year,” Boone continued. “Starting with coming over and pitching a spring training game for us late in spring, and I thought he handled it and navigated it.”

Schlittler began the season in Double-A and rose through the Yankees’ system and held down a spot in New York’s rotation down the stretch.

“You saw the right competitive edge to him. Super coachable, accountable. I feel like he has done a really good job developing,” Boone said. “He gave us a shot in the arm when he became another stabilizing force in our rotation. He will handle the situation well, no matter the outcome, as I believe it won't be too overwhelming for him, and he will be prepared to perform.

Schlittler grew up a Red Sox fan but has since severed his ties with rooting for Boston since being drafted by New York and wearing pinstripes.

“I take pride in being from Boston. [But] when it came to my career and where I want to be, this is where I want to be,” said Schlittler. “I’m very fortunate for the Yankee organization. If I had to choose between the two, I wouldn’t change [anything].”

Will he succumb to the pressure of being a local kid pitching for Boston's most hated rival?

“Being from New England, it is different from being down south. You don’t get the full year of baseball,” he said. “The way my college coach would describe it is more of a blue-collar, hard-nosed [style]. That’s how I take myself as a player. The steps I have taken to get here [are] definitely going to define how I go out there and pitch Thursday.”