{"id":168375,"date":"2026-03-24T01:43:28","date_gmt":"2026-03-24T01:43:28","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sportnews.azontree.com\/?p=168375"},"modified":"2026-03-24T01:43:28","modified_gmt":"2026-03-24T01:43:28","slug":"red-sox-just-stunned-everyone-theyve-optioned-their-no-1-prospect-in-a-jaw-dropping-last-minute-move-this-shocking-decision-is-about-to-spark-major-controversy-and-could-haunt-bos","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sportnews.azontree.com\/?p=168375","title":{"rendered":"RED SOX JUST STUNNED EVERYONE! They\u2019ve OPTIONED Their No. 1 Prospect in a Jaw-Dropping Last-Minute Move \u2014 This Shocking Decision Is About to Spark MAJOR Controversy and Could Haunt Boston All Season Long!"},"content":{"rendered":"<div id=\"post-featured-container-id\">\n<div id=\"post-featured\">\n<figure><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/heavy.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/payton-tolle-optioned-opening-day-alex-cora.jpg?quality=65&amp;strip=all&amp;w=780\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 820px) 95vw, 780px\" srcset=\"https:\/\/heavy.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/payton-tolle-optioned-opening-day-alex-cora.jpg?quality=65&amp;strip=all&amp;w=780 780w, https:\/\/heavy.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/payton-tolle-optioned-opening-day-alex-cora.jpg?quality=15&amp;strip=all&amp;w=1100 1100w, https:\/\/heavy.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/payton-tolle-optioned-opening-day-alex-cora.jpg?quality=65&amp;strip=all&amp;w=1350 1350w\" alt=\"Red Sox Option No. 1 Prospect in Surprise Move Before Opening Day\" width=\"780\" height=\"439\" \/><\/figure>\n<div>\n<p>Getty<\/p>\n<p>Payton Tolle of the Boston Red Sox will surprisingly start the season at Triple-A Worcester.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p>Just days before Opening Day, the Red Sox delivered a surprising blow to their No. 1 pitching prospect Payton Tolle. Red Sox fans will need to wait before they see Tolle electrify Fenway Park again, as he did in his MLB debut on Aug. 29 last year, when he faced NL Cy Young Award winner Paul Skenes. In a surprise roster move, the Red Sox optioned Tolle to Triple-A Worcester on Monday, just two days before the deadline to finalize MLB Opening Day rosters.<\/p>\n<p>The move was first reported by MassLive Red Sox reporter Chris Cotillo, who also reported the Red Sox sent pitchers Zack Kelly, Tyler Uberstine and Tommy Kahnle to the minor leagues on Monday. The timing makes the decision especially notable, with Boston finalizing its roster just as expectations around Tolle had begun to surge.<\/p>\n<p>With the exception of Uberstine, who has his own unlikely story, all of the demotions caught Red Sox Nation by surprise. But perhaps none more so than Tolle, rated as the No. 1 prospect in the Red Sox organization by MLB Pipeline.<\/p>\n<p>Tolle is also ranked as the No. 19 overall prospect in baseball by <em>MLB Pipeline<\/em>. <em>Baseball America<\/em> shares the high opinion of Tolle, also placing him at No. 1 in the Red Sox farm system.<\/p>\n<p><em>Baseball America<\/em> ranks Tolle at No. 17 in baseball, but the Red Sox clearly feel that he needs further development at the minor league level after skyrocketing from the Single-A all the way to the big leagues in his first professional season last year.<\/p>\n<div>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<h2>Tolle Expected to Receive Call-Up Soon<\/h2>\n<p>Tolle experienced some struggles in his three starts and five relief appearances over the final month of the 2025 season, finishing with a 6.06 ERA and 1.592 WHIP, though he struck out 19 in 16 1\/3 innings.<\/p>\n<p>But he appeared to be on track to pitch a full season at the major league level in 2026, as MLB analyst J.P. Hoornstra of The Big Lead reported late Monday.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cTolle did nearly everything he could to make the Boston Red Sox\u2019s Opening Day roster,\u201d Hoornstra wrote. \u201cThe 23-year-old left-hander allowed three runs on eight hits in 10 2\/3 spring innings (2.53 ERA), walking one batter and striking out 13. Tolle, Boston\u2019s No. 1 prospect, even volunteered to move to the bullpen if it meant not being optioned to the minors to start the 2026 season.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Given how quickly he reached the majors, it may only be a matter of time before Tolle is back \u2014 and this time, with a real chance to stick.<\/p>\n<div>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<h2>Connelly Early Makes Opening Day Roster: Report<\/h2>\n<p>Toward the end of last season, the Red Sox not only called up Tolle, they also promoted another left-handed prospect \u2014 Connelly Early. Early was also electric in his major league debut, striking out 11 in five scoreless innings in a road game against the Athletics on Sept. 9.<\/p>\n<p>The Red Sox thought highly enough of the 23-year-old Early that they gave him the start in the deciding Game 3 of the American League Wild Card Series against the New York Yankees, in the pressure-cooker environment of Yankee Stadium in the Bronx.<\/p>\n<p>Now, according to a report by Red Sox reporter Ari Alexander of Boston\u2019s Channel 7 television station, Early was named to Boston\u2019s Opening Day roster. Though no specific announcement was made, the expectation is that Early will take the No. 5 spot in the Red Sox rotation.<\/p>\n<div>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p>Jonathan Vankin JONATHAN VANKIN is an award-winning journalist and writer who now covers baseball and other sports for Heavy.com. He twice won New England Press Association awards for sports feature writing. He was a sports editor and writer at The Daily Yomiuri in Tokyo, Japan, covering Japan Pro Baseball, boxing, sumo and other sports. More about Jonathan Vankin<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Getty Payton Tolle of the Boston Red Sox will surprisingly start the season at Triple-A Worcester. Just days before Opening Day, the Red Sox delivered a surprising&#8230; <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":168379,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-168375","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-mlb"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v23.6 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>RED SOX JUST STUNNED EVERYONE! They\u2019ve OPTIONED Their No. 1 Prospect in a Jaw-Dropping Last-Minute Move \u2014 This Shocking Decision Is About to Spark MAJOR Controversy and Could Haunt Boston All Season Long! - NEWS USA<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/sportnews.azontree.com\/?p=168375\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"RED SOX JUST STUNNED EVERYONE! They\u2019ve OPTIONED Their No. 1 Prospect in a Jaw-Dropping Last-Minute Move \u2014 This Shocking Decision Is About to Spark MAJOR Controversy and Could Haunt Boston All Season Long! - NEWS USA\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Getty Payton Tolle of the Boston Red Sox will surprisingly start the season at Triple-A Worcester. 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