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Red Sox rookie got a ‘nibble’ of MLB success — but now wants ‘the steak’ in 2026
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- Red Sox rookie got a ‘nibble’ of MLB success — but now wants ‘the steak’ in 2026
BOSTON — In his first professional season, Payton Tolle went from starting at High-A Greenville to getting a key out in a playoff game at Yankee Stadium six months later. He's hopeful 2025 was simply a taste of what's to come.
"I'm excited," Tolle said earlier this month at Fenway Fest. "I'm hungry, too. You get a little nibble, but I'll hopefully get the full steak this year."
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Tolle, who made his major league debut on August 29 and pitched seven times down the stretch for the Red Sox late in the season , enters 2026 with much-higher expectations than he did a year ago, when he was preparing to throw his first professional pitch just months after being selected in the second round of the draft. A year ago this time, Tolle was golfing at home in Oklahoma. Things are different now for the 23-year-old, who is widely considered Boston's top overall prospect and has been mentioned in trade rumors throughout the winter. He has also become a bit of a fan favorite, as evidenced by the cheers he received when introduced on the Fenway Fest stage.
Tolle will be in the mix for an Opening Day rotation spot, though the club's additions of Ranger Suárez , Sonny Gray and Johan Oviedo to a group headed by returnees Garrett Crochet and Brayan Bello certainly lessens the chances of the rookie making the team. In camp, he'll compete with the likes of Connelly Early , Kutter Crawford , Patrick Sandoval and Kyle Harrison , all depth options in case someone gets hurt. Especially with Suárez now in the fold on a five-year, $130 million contract , there now seems to be a good chance Tolle — and Early, for that matter – begin the year at Triple-A Worcester if they're not traded for a bat. That doesn't mean Tolle won't contribute, potentially in a big way, at some point in 2026.
"I think for a while, the goal was to be a big leaguer," Tolle said. "Now, it's well, 'We want to stay a big leaguer' until a few years down the line where it's like, 'Well, I want to be known as one of the best big leaguers.' So it's just a constant mindset of, 'What's the next step? How can I be better and how can I stay hungry?'"
Tolle's focus this winter has been on fine-tuning his pitch mix. During his meteoric rise across four levels on 2025, he relied on a dominant fastball that averaged 96.7 mph and reached triple digits in the majors. The next step is turning his slider and changeup — pitches that were at times, non-competitive during his big league stint — into real weapons.
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"Trying to figure out that changeup," Tolle said. "It's coming along. I like where I'm at with it. Working on the curveball, big one. So I think that's going to be what is going to take me to the next level."
In his efforts to become a more complete pitcher, Tolle has spent time looking back, not so fondly, at an outing in which his limitations were most exposed. On September 5 in Phoenix, Tolle — making his second career MLB start — had no feel for any off-speed pitches and was hit very hard by the Diamondbacks , who sat on his fastball and hit it hard, tagging him for five earned runs on five hits (including two deep homers) and four walks in three innings. In total, Tolle threw his four-seamer 64.1% of the time once he reached the majors. He knows keeping hitters off balance with his cutter, slider, a kick-changeup and curveball is important as he continues to develop.
"I made it to where people only hunted (my) fastball because they didn't have to respect anything else with the curveball," Tolle said. "I go back to that Arizona start a lot. The off-speed, nothing landed for a strike. I couldn't find anything other than fastballs — and they teed off on it.
"Just trying to find (off-speed) in the zone as much as I can. The vertical break is something I'm trying to (do)."
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Throughout his offseason in Oklahoma, Tolle has focused on setting a new personal velocity record — that's now at 100.8 mph, he said — and create more separation with the changeup in order to increase strikeouts on the pitch. After throwing a career-high 107 ⅔ innings across four levels, he delayed his winter throwing program in order to make sure he was fully recovered.
Now, with less than a month to go before spring training, Tolle is excited to take his work to Fort Myers.
"I saw a lot of things once I got called up and I learned," Tolle said. "It's, 'OK, now we can go into this offseason, refine what we have right now and go into next season with the most confidence we can."
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