July Players of the Month: Ronald Rosario and Payton Tolle

With the fourth full month of the minor league season in the rearview mirror, it is time to present the SoxProspects.com Players of the Month Awards for July to catcher Ronald Rosario (pictured, left) and left-hander Payton Tolle (pictured, bottom right). The former is not ranked among the organization's top 60 prospects, while the latter has been on the rise since making his professional debut earlier this year.

Rosario enjoyed an incredibly productive July with Portland. The right-handed hitting 22-year-old slashed .375/.444/.604 with two doubles, three home runs, eight RBIs, eight runs scored, one stolen base, five walks, and 11 strikeouts over 14 games (54 plate appearances). Overall, he is batting .214/.287/.317 with eight doubles, six home runs, 37 RBIs, 22 runs scored, four stolen bases, 23 walks, and 62 strikeouts through 70 games (283 plate appearances) for the Sea Dogs this season. From behind the plate, he has thrown out 20 of 77 possible base stealers.

This marks the first time that Rosario has been recognized as a SoxProspects.com Player of the Month. The native Venezuelan originally signed with Boston for $50,000 as an international free agent in July 2019. He first arrived in Portland late last season (though he did not see any playing time) and currently leads a Sea Dogs catching group that includes the likes of Brooks Brannon and Ronaldo Hernandez.

Tolle, meanwhile, takes home SoxProspects.com Pitcher of the Month honors for the first time and puts an end to fellow lefty Eduardo Rivera's two-month reign in doing so. The 22-year-old southpaw appeared in four games (made three starts) for Portland in July, posting a 2.00 ERA with 22 strikeouts to just three walks over 18 innings in which opponents batted .177 against him. He owns a 1.67 ERA with 37 strikeouts to seven walks through his first six outings (five starts) and 27 innings at the Double-A level after receiving a promotion from Greenville in late June.

Selected with the 50th overall pick in last year's draft out of Texas Christian (and signed for $2 million), Tolle opened the season as Boston's No. 13 prospect. Following the graduations of Roman Anthony, Kristian Campbell, and Marcelo Mayer, however, the 6-foot-6, 250-pound Oklahoma native has emerged not only as the organization's top pitching prospect but as the No. 1 overall prospect in the system. Elsewhere, Baseball America regards Tolle as the No. 44 prospect in the sport, while MLB Pipeline has him ranked 92nd on its Top 100 list. He has impressed evaluators thanks in part to a pitch mix that includes a 94-97 mph fastball that tops out at 98.9 mph, a 90-92 mph cutter, an 84-88 mph slider, and an 87-90 mph changeup.

Photo Credit: Ronald Rosario and Payton Tolle by Kelly O'Connor

Tweet