Red Sox reportedly calling up top pitching prospect Payton Tolle to debut vs. Pirates

The Boston Red Sox are calling up top pitching prospect Payton Tolle to start Friday’s game versus the Pittsburgh Pirates. He’ll be matched up against Pirates ace Paul Skenes in his MLB debut.

Boston is making the move as the team returns home from a 7-1 road trip that moved them to within 3.5 games of the first-place Toronto Blue Jays in the AL East. Tolle, 22, was the Red Sox’s second-round pick in 2024 out of TCU, and he has rocketed through the minor-league system. He was ranked as the team’s No. 2 prospect by MLB.com.

Overall this season, the left-hander has compiled a 3.44 ERA with 133 strikeouts in 91 2/3 innings. He began the year with high Single-A Greenville, striking out 14.9 batters per nine innings in 11 appearances before moving up to Double-A Portland (12.3 Ks/9 in six games). After three starts with Triple-A Worcester (10.2 Ks/9), Tolle is getting called up to the majors.

That performance tracks with his numbers from his senior season at TCU, when he struck out 125 batters in 81 1/3 innings through 14 starts. Tolle generates top velocity with a longer extension that allows him to release the ball even closer to the hitter than many other pitchers.

Tolle takes the fifth spot in the Red Sox’s rotation, which was held by Walker Buehler before he was demoted to the bullpen last week.

“Obviously, making the jump all the way to Triple-A and still dominating hitters is really impressive,” Red Sox pitching coach Andrew Bailey told The Athletic this week.

“So we know that it’s elite extension and an elite four-seam [fastball], and again, just try to find something else to pair with it,” he added. “But I think he can come up and dominate hitters with that fastball. We’ll see where and when he arrives.”

Boston starting pitchers currently rank 10th in MLB with a 3.84 ERA. With a 3.37 bullpen ERA (third in MLB), the team is second in the majors with an overall 3.60 ERA.

The Red Sox have been aggressive in calling up their top prospects this season to provide a boost while competing with the Blue Jays and New York Yankees in the AL East. Previously, Boston promoted infielders Kristian Campbell and Marcelo Mayer, in addition to outfielders Roman Anthony and Jhostynxon Garcia.

That youth movement has seen varying levels of success so far. If Tolle brings the sort of impact to the team that Anthony has (.857 OPS, 18 doubles, 7 homers, 29 RBI), the Red Sox will be overjoyed.