Boston Red Sox’ Payton Tolle Becoming a Star
The charismatic rookie left-hander is becoming a star for the Boston Red Sox.
Video Transcript
What's up everyone?
Zach Coe here for Roundtable.
The Red Sox extended their winning streak to four and improved to 41 and 48 on the season thanks to an 8-1 drubbing of the Chicago White Sox on Tuesday night, and they did so on the back of rookie starter Peyton Tully, who achieved something that has not been done in a Red Sox uniform since 1978.
According to JP Long on Twitter, he became the first Red Sox pitcher to make at least four starts of six or more shutout innings in a single season before turning 24, since Hall of Famer Dennis Eckersley achieved the feat in 1978.
He's also the only pitcher under the age of 24 to reach that mark in 2026.
In addition to matching Eckersley's achievement, Tully made American League history with the start on Tuesday as according to Long, he became the first American League pitcher under 24 years old to make three starts of six or more shutout innings, allowing three or fewer base runners in a single season, since earned runs became an official statistic in 1913.
And Tully is really becoming a star, not only because he's one of, if not the most charismatic players on the 2026 Red Sox, but also for his performance on the field.
Of course, the Red Sox have become, somewhat of a pitching factory under the three-year tenure of Chief Baseball Officer Craig Breslow, headlined by fellow rookie lefties Connelly Early and Jake Bennett.
But Tully is absolutely the crown jewel of this new Red Sox pitching pipeline, as he's seen as a future frontline starter.
His FWAR of 1.9 is the highest among Red Sox rookie starters since Daisuke posted a 2.9 FWAR over 32 starts in the 2007 season, and he ranks top 10 among all rookie starters in ERA, strikeouts per nine innings, walks per nine innings, opponent batting average, and FWAR.
Tully's teammate, newly named All-Star Wilson Contreras, told MassLive.com's Sean McAdam after last night's six-inning shutout performance that the sky is the limit for the 23-year-old Tully, and it's hard to disagree with him based on what we've seen in his young career so far
