(Photo by Brian Fluharty/Getty Images)

BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS – SEPTEMBER 01: Payton Tolle #70 of the Boston Red Sox throws a pitch before a game against the Cleveland Guardians at Fenway Park on September 01, 2025 in Boston, Massachusetts. (Photo by Brian Fluharty/Getty Images)

After electrifying fans at Fenway Park in his MLB debut on August 29 against the Pirates (5.1 innings, eight strikeouts, two runs), top Red Sox pitching prospect Payton Tolle has looked much more the part of a rookie in his last two appearances, getting knocked around by the Diamondbacks in a road start (five runs in 3.0 innings) and giving up two runs in 2.0 innings in a piggy-back start last week against the A’s.

Tolle’s MLB record now stands at 0-1 with a 7.84 ERA, and because of that, the team has decided to pump the brakes on how much it is asking from its promising fire-baller.

The team has announced its upcoming pitching rotation, and while fellow top prospect Connelly Early will get another start–this time at home–on Tuesday, the Red Sox will bump up Lucas Giolito and Brayan Bello in the rotation.

As the Boston Globe’s Alex Speier reported, “Red Sox announce their rotation against the A’s: Early, Giolito, Bello. They’re skipping Tolle and having Giolito and Bello pitch on four days’ rest.”

Payton Tolle Pitched Career-High Innings

Of course, four days rest is normal for Giolito and Bello, so the Red Sox are essentially using this opportunity to keep those two in their normal rhythm, as well as to give Tolle a break. The team has been very wary about how it uses Tolle and during his time in the minors this season, regularly pitched him on a six-day schedule.

Tolle was the team’s second-round pick in 2024, and has not pitched more than 85.2 innings in a season in his career, which he did at Wichita State in 2023. He spent 2024 at Texas Christian and did not pitch in the Red Sox’s system after his college season was over.

So the 101.2 innings he has thrown in 2025, which began at High A and has brought him all the way to Boston, is a career-high. The Red Sox are eager to preserve his arm.

Red Sox Holding Onto Wild-Card Spot

While the downside is that fans won’t get to see Tolle this week in Boston, the upside is that Early will make his Fenway debut after making his own electric debut last week against the A’s in Sacramento. That was a late, West-Coast game, meaning many in New England were not able to see Early tie a franchise record with 11 strikeouts in his first game.

The Red Sox are 82-68, with 12 games to play. They got a much-needed win over the Yankees on Sunday, but find their playoff position weakened considerably after a poorly timed 3-6 stretch.

Boston is 5.5 games behind the Blue Jays in the AL East, and in the No. 2 wild-card spot behind the Yankees, by 1.5 games. They’re just 1.0 games ahead of the Astros for the final wild-card spot.

The hard-charging Rangers are just 2.0 games out of the final wild-card spot, with 15 wins in their last 20 games.

Sean Deveney is a veteran sports reporter covering the NBA, NFL and MLB for Heavy.com. He has written for Heavy since 2019 and has more than two decades of experience covering the NBA, including 17 years as the lead NBA reporter for the Sporting News. Deveney is the author of 7 nonfiction books, including “Fun City,” “Before Wrigley became Wrigley,” and “Facing Michael Jordan.” More about Sean Deveney

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