Few pitchers in history have risen through the minor leagues as quickly as Payton Tolle. The big left-hander made his professional debut back in April at High-A Greenville, and less than five months later he’s reached the majors.
Fortunately for Tolle, he’s joining a Red Sox staff that features one of the small handful of people who have been in his shoes.
Before he was acquired by the Red Sox this past winter, Garrett Crochet bypassed the minor leagues entirely after being drafted by the White Sox in the summer of 2020, debuting in the big leagues that September.
Asked what Tolle can expect, the Red Sox ace said his own ascension was largely fueled by confidence and stuff, and from everything he’s heard the rookie has enough of both to succeed.
“When you’re entering the big leagues that’s really all you need, is confidence and stuff,” Crochet said. “As you continue to stick and stick, people start to adjust to you and maybe a little bit of intimidation creeps in, but he’s a big boy, I don’t think he’s easily intimidated, and everything I’ve heard about him is he has the stuff to stick around for a long time.”
The Red Sox are making a big bet that Tolle is ready for primetime, thrusting the rookie into the heat of a pennant race at a time where every game matters. The club opted for Tolle over Kyle Harrison, a more established pitcher with prior big league experience, and chief baseball officer Craig Breslow said he believes Tolle will remain a contributor down the stretch.
“He’s really impressed at every level,” Breslow said. “He’s made significant strides in terms of his development and we have every reason to believe that he can be a very good major league starting pitcher.”
Originally selected in the second round of last summer’s MLB Draft, Tolle posted a 3.04 ERA with 133 strikeouts over 91.2 innings in his first 20 professional outings. He only made three appearances at Triple-A, shaking off a rough first inning in his debut to allow one run over his next 14 innings with the WooSox.
Even still, how could the Red Sox be sure he’d be ready after so little time in the minors? Breslow said he boasts an elite fastball along with a level of emotional maturity that made them confident he could make the jump.
“He’s checked every box,” Breslow said. “We aren’t going to know for sure until he takes the ball under the lights tonight, but we have every reason to believe he’s going to be successful.”
Time will tell if the club’s bet pays off, but manager Alex Cora said the first thing he noticed when Tolle walked into the clubhouse was that he has a presence and it immediately felt like he belonged.
And as far as adjusting to the majors goes, Cora said if he just takes after Crochet, he’ll be ok.
“I think we have a group of guys here in this clubhouse starting with the ace that he can mirror himself,” Cora said. “Big dude, lefty, follow in his footsteps and he’ll be ok.”
