Story by
Payton Tolle on Red Sox sending him down: ‘It does sting... but it’ll be beneficial for me’
- Story by
- Payton Tolle on Red Sox sending him down: ‘It does sting... but it’ll be beneficial for me’
WORCESTER — Considering the amount of rotation depth the Red Sox amassed with their offseason additions of Ranger Suárez , Sonny Gray and Johan Oviedo , it always seemed likely Payton Tolle would start the season at Triple-A Worcester. That became the reality Monday when the Red Sox optioned Tolle and settled their Opening Day roster in somewhat surprising fashion by carrying both Connelly Early (as a starter) and Oviedo (as a long reliever).
For Tolle — who had described his bid to make the team as s imilar to “fighting like you’re the third monkey trying to get on the ark, and it’s starting to rain” earlier in camp — the decision was not necessarily a surprise. But he did feel like he forced the issue with an encouraging spring training performance that saw the top pitching prospect make strides in numerous areas and post a 2.53 ERA (while striking out 13 batters) in 10 ⅔ innings in exhibition play.
Advertisement
“I thought (I) competed. I thought (I) did what (I) could do,“ Tolle said Thursday at Polar Park. ”I think I made it a hard decision for them. When it comes down to it, I’ve got stuff I can work on. There’s a lot of things I can do to make myself a complete Major League Baseball pitcher. It’s what they thought was best for me and I think it’s gonna be a good opportunity for me, too, to come down here and work on what I can. I’ve got a few things with the off-speed pitches."
As the Red Sox begin their season in Cincinnati this weekend, Tolle is in Worcester, where he will make his season debut against Syracuse on Sunday.
“It does sting, because you want to play at the highest level all the time,” he said. “But at the same time, it’s what’s going to be beneficial for me. I’m just excited to get going on the year and start pitching against other hitters in games that actually mean things again.”
“Our rotation is really freaking good. The pitchers we’ve got up are really freaking good.”
Advertisement
Tolle’s meteoric rise in 2025 saw him go from making his professional debut at High-A Greenville in April to pitching in the postseason with the big league club in October. In the meantime, he dominated batters across three minor league levels and found himself ranked among the very best prospects in baseball. In eight major league outings (including one in the playoffs), Tolle showed his high ceiling but also a bit of what made him an unfinished product . While Tolle’s fastball was dominant, he struggled to find feel with his off-speed pitches and major league hitters adapted quickly.
Entering camp, with ace Garrett Crochet , Suárez, Gray and Brayan Bello locked into spots, Tolle competed with Early and Oviedo for the No. 5 spot. Suárez’s slow build-up from pitching in the World Baseball Classic led the Red Sox to decide to carry both Early and Oviedo (who will likely be in a multi-inning piggyback role for the first couple weeks of the season). Early’s stellar spring (1.59 ERA, 16 strikeouts in 17 innings) paved the way for him to make the team. Manager Alex Cora said earlier this week that the Red Sox acknowledge that both of their top two pitching prospects still have development goals to achieve, and therefore wanted at least one of them to begin the year with Worcester .
“We can’t have both in the big leagues. That’s the way we saw it,” Cora said Tuesday. “We’re here to win a lot of games in April but we’re here to win a lot of games over 162. It doesn’t make sense roster-wise to carry both of them. It felt like Early earned that spot.”
The Red Sox did not consider bringing Tolle with them to Cincinnati as a bullpen weapon because they want to keep developing him as a starter.
Advertisement
“Tolle did everything we asked him to do,” Cora said. “There’s still some development and he’ll do that. We added some pitches throughout camp and the offseason and he’s gonna keep improving down there. At one point, without making any promises, I believe he’s gonna contribute at this level, but it’s not right now.”
On Monday night, Early found out he had made the Opening Day roster for the first time at the same time Tolle, a close friend, learned of his fate. Tolle made sure to remind Early that they wouldn’t be separated for long.
“He came in like, ‘I’m gonna miss you,’” Tolle said. “I was like, ‘You’re gonna see me in a little bit, alright?’
“You can’t deny what he did. He kicked butt and he got rewarded for it. I’m really excited for him.”
Advertisement
In 2025, Tolle, just months after being drafted out of TCU, spent all of spring training in minor league camp on the other side of the Fenway South complex. This year was different, as he stayed with the big league group until the very last day. On the mound, in the clubhouse — and yes, even in costume while giving a presentation on the United States of America — Tolle found a sense of comfort.
“It was great,” Tolle said. “The guys in the locker room are always incredible. There’s really nobody I’m afraid to talk to anymore, as crazy as that sounds. It’s a good group. I feel getting comfortable with everybody is gonna help make me better and help me have more fun with baseball. I was super excited to be able to do that.
“I think the presentation got me some brownie points with some guys,” he added. “If they get mad at me or something, I’ll be like, ‘Remember that presentation I had?’”
In Triple-A, where he made only three starts before being called up to debut on Labor Day weekend, Tolle will keep trying to improve his secondary pitches in an effort to have a complete attack plan when he does return to the majors. He hopes that day will come soon after what he described as an encouraging message from Cora, pitching coach Andrew Bailey and chief baseball officer Craig Breslow earlier in the week.
Advertisement
“It was just, ‘Go work on what you need to,’” Tolle said. “I’m hoping the next time I get called up is the last time I get called up. It was an encouraging one.”
More Red Sox coverage
Read the original article on MassLive . Add MassLive as a Preferred Source by clicking here .
