Red Sox
Tolle has quickly made his way through the Red Sox’ farm system this year, becoming their top pitching prospect.
The Red Sox have called up four of their top prospects this season, and a fifth is making a strong case to also pitch in the majors before the 2025 season ends.
Payton Tolle had a strong showing in his most recent outing with Triple-A Worcester on Friday. The lefty allowed just one run on one hit, zero walks, and nine strikeouts over five innings in Worcester’s 9-3 loss to Jacksonville.
Of the nine strikeouts, four came off whiffs. Tolle also drew four whiffs with his fastball, with the pitch topping out at 98.6 mph, per Baseball Savant. He also caused whiffs with his slider and curveball.
Friday marked a second straight strong showing for Tolle on the mound after struggling in his Triple-A debut earlier in August. The 22-year-old didn’t allow a run in five innings against Iowa last Saturday, giving up three hits and one walk to go with five strikeouts.
Tolle’s performance on Friday also comes as the Red Sox’ are making some changes to their rotation. Walker Buehler is getting moved to the bullpen as he’s continued to struggle.
The Red Sox haven’t named who will replace Buehler’s spot in the rotation yet, but Tolle seems unlikely to take the veteran’s spot for his next scheduled start. Buehler was scheduled to pitch again against the Orioles on Monday, marking too quick a turnaround. Kyle Harrison and Richard Fitts have been floated as possible candidates to make that start.
But Red Sox chief baseball officer Craig Breslow isn’t ruling out the possibility of Tolle joining the big league squad at some point in September.
“When there is a guy with these unique traits and what we think should be weapons that will translate into the big leagues, then you start to look at the variables that are introduced by changing the environment, the crowd, the stadium,” Breslow told The Boston Globe‘s Alex Speier. “By all accounts, he is a kid that kind of elevates his game. We don’t anticipate that the stage is too big for him. So, if we think he’s ready, we wouldn’t hesitate to give it a shot.”
Tolle has quickly shot his way up the Red Sox’ farm system this year after being selected in the second round of the 2024 MLB Draft. He began the year at High-A Greenville, going 1-3 with a 3.62 ERA in 11 outings. He was more dominant with Double-A Portland, logging a 1.67 ERA with a 0.741 WHIP and 37 strikeouts in 27 innings over six outings.
Between all three levels, Tolle has a 3.04 ERA, 0.993 WHIP, and 133 strikeouts in 91 2/3 innings over 20 outings. He also has a .193 batting average against.
Those impressive stats have helped Tolle be viewed as possibly the Red Sox’ best prospect after Roman Anthony, Kristian Campbell, and Marcelo Mayer were called up. He’s ranked as the second-best prospect in the team’s farm system and the 28th-best prospect overall by MLB Pipeline. Baseball America ranked Tolle as the 41st-best prospect in baseball recently, too.
As Tolle might be the best Red Sox’ pitching prospect in years, he’s earning comparisons to another pitcher who made his way up Boston’s farm system before becoming a star in the majors.
“This is hard for me to say. But this guy, he’s a Jonny Lester-type guy to me — can’t-miss, dominant, big leaguer,” Sea Dogs manager Chad Epperson told Speier. “He’s a rat. He just wants information. He wants to be around this. And I think those intangibles there, and with the talent, this guy’s going to be really, really special.”
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