Red Sox top pitching prospect Payton Tolle promoted to Triple-A Worcester
Red Sox top pitching prospect Payton Tolle is one step away from the Major Leagues. Following a dominant stint with the Double-A Portland Sea Dogs, the left-hander has been promoted to Triple-A Worcester.
If Tolle goes out and dominates for the WooSox over the next several weeks, he could be in line for a big-league call-up and a spot in the Boston bullpen late in the season.
The 22-year-old Tolle was just promoted to Double-A back on June 22, but he was lights out over his six weeks with the Sea Dogs. The southpaw posted a 1.67 ERA and 0.741 WHIP over 27 innings of work across six appearances (five starts), as he fanned 37 batters to just seven walks issued.
In his last start for the Sea Dogs, Tolle struck out six batters and allowed just one hit over four innings against the Altoona Curve. He threw 43 of his 65 pitches for strikes in the outing. Overall, Tolle held Double-A hitters to a .074 batting average against while with Portland.
Who is Payton Tolle?
The Red Sox drafted Tolle in the second round (50th overall) of the 2024 MLB Amateur Draft out of TCU. He also played two seasons of college baseball for Wichita State, and was considered one of the best two-way players in the game. On the mound, he was a combined 20-13 with a 4.09 ERA and a 1.264 WHIP at the two schools.
He's become a fulltime pitcher with the Red Sox and has quickly climbed up the Boston system and prospect rankings this year. Baseball America recently ranked the lefty No. 49 on its Top 100 prospects list, and he's now the No. 3 prospect in the Red Sox system after position players Franklin Arias and Jhostynxon Garcia.
The 6-foot-6, 250-pound Tolle has his fastball hovering around 96 mph this year, which MLB Pipeline called "nearly unhittable" in a recent scouting report. He also has a cutter, slider, and changeup in his arsenal.
Tolle had a 3.62 ERA and 1.168 WHIP over his 11 appearances (10 starts) with High-A Greenville, where he averaged a robust 14.3 strikeouts per nine innings. Between his two stints in the Boston system, Tolle is averaging 13.6 strikeouts per nine innings to go with a 2.93 ERA.
