Compelling Red Sox Pitching Prospect Turns In Eye-Catching Outing
Payton Tolle’s first win in professional baseball came with an exclamation mark.
The Boston Red Sox pitching prospect was lights out on the mound for High-A Greenville on Sunday in a 16-0 rout of the Ashville Tourists. The imposing 6-foot-6, 250-pound lefty pitched five scoreless innings and recorded 12 of his 15 outs via strikeout while surrendering just three hits and no walks.
It was easily the best start of Tolle’s young career. The 22-year-old faced the same Ashville squad a month ago and gave up six runs with three walks in just 1 2/3 innings of work. Tolle now owns a 1-1 record with a 4.30 ERA and 1.16 WHIP in four starts to go along with 29 strikeouts in 14 2/3 innings.
According to SoxProspect.com’s Ian Cundall, Tolle’s fastball averaged 95.6 mph and topped out at 98.
“I like to get the swing and misses on fastballs up,” Tolle said this past offseason, per MassLive’s Christopher Smith. “And the other thing I like to do is having that long extension to be able to get on hitters. I feel like going inside on guys can be effective for me as well.”
The Red Sox selected Tolle with the 50th overall pick out of TCU in the 2024 MLB Draft. He’s the sixth-ranked pitching prospect in Boston’s farm system and second-best southpaw, according to MLB Pipeline.