Wiktionary
early innings
n. 1 (context baseball English) The first, second, and third innings 2 The early stages of any project or extended event.
Usage examples of "early innings".
When it came to hard guys, Jack Andolini was like Dwight Gooden: you could rock him, yes, you could shock him, maybe, but if you let him get away in the early innings he was going to stomp you flat later on.