August 28, 2025 at 8:08 PM
Transaction Analysis: Payton Tolle Gets the Call!
Early Thursday evening, the Athletic's Ken Rosenthal reported that Red Sox left-hander Payton Tolle, the current top prospect in the SoxProspects rankings, will be called up to make his major league debut on Friday against Pirates ace Paul Skenes. It has been a meteoric rise this year for Tolle, who started the season with Greenville and finds himself set to make his major league debut just 13 months after he signed. Here's a full scouting report and what to expect heading into his major league debut. For a more detailed breakdown, also check out the last two episodes of the SoxProspects Podcast from August 11th and August 24th, and video from his outings on 8/10/25 and 8/22/25 on the SoxProspects Twitter.
How acquired: 2024 Draft, 50th overall
Bonus: $2,000,000
Height: 6-foot-6
Weight: 250 pounds
2025 season (20 games between Greenville, Portland and Worcester): 91.2 IP, 3.04 ERA, 0.99 WHIP, 133 K, 23 BB
Physical Description: Huge frame with no remaining projection. Looks all of his listed height and weight. Proportional for his size and surprisingly athletic.
Mechanics: Throws from a low three-quarters arm slot starting on the first base side of the rubber. Compact delivery that he repeats well even though it has effort. High leg kick. Really drives off his back side and gets elite extension (7.4 feet or more). Has a low release height. Arm action works, but has a slight stab behind. Comes across his body. Deceptive delivery in large part due to how close to the plate he releases the ball. Extremely difficult to pick up.
Fastball: 94-97 mph Tops out at 98.9 mph. Pitch has life up and both vertical and horizontal movement. Has shown elite bat-missing ability with the pitch, which has graded out as one of the best four-seam fastballs in all of the affiliated minor leagues. Pitch plays well above its velocity. Has shown the ability to hold velocity into the late innings of his outings and will even max out late in outings if needed. Plus control and has at least an above-average long-term command profile. Almost always around the zone with even his misses remaining competitive. Velocity has increased considerably in pro ball, jumping from sitting 90-91 mph in college. Potential plus-plus offering.
Cutter: 89-92 mph. Short, horizontal cut-slider. Has steadily improved as the 2025 season has progressed. Not a major whiff pitch, more designed to get ahead and generate weak contact. Plays well off his fastball. At its best when he is able to bring it back over the plate for a strike against right-handed hitters. Solid change-of-pace offering if he can consistently locate it in the zone. Will occasionally blend together with his slower slider. Potential above-average offering.
Slider: 85-88 mph. More traditional slider with two-plane shape. At its best, shows depth and bite down in the zone. Primary secondary pitch that evolved from a sweepy slider at 78-82 he threw in college. Needs to develop more consistency with the offering and the confidence to rely on it, but it flashes bat-missing ability. Will look more like a sweeper at lower velocities and more like a gyro-slider at higher end of the velocity band. Potential solid-average offering and trending up as he continues to refine it.
Changeup: 87-90 mph. Inconsistent feel and shape. Some are firm and look like a two-seam fastball, while others have late dive down and out of the zone. Not a pitch he can consistently land for strikes yet, but flashes bat-missing potential. Rarely thrown in college so it is a work in progress. Will throw some that are well below-average and not competitive and others that are plus pitches. Potential average offering, but projection is fluid as he continues to incorporate it more.
Curveball: 82-84 mph. Throws two variations: a sweeper and more traditional 1-to-7, vertical breaker. Vertical breaking ball is something he added in-season in 2025. Mostly used to steal a strike early in counts or bury in the dirt when looking for a whiff. Sweeper is a more traditional out-pitch. Both will flash potential, but lack consistency. Potential average offerings.
Career Notes: Mother was a member of the Wichita State golf team and father competed in track and field for Oklahoma State. Transferred to TCU after spending his first two years at Wichita State, where he was a standout on both the mound and at the plate as a power-first 1B/DH. Was a top five finalist for the John Olerud Award as the top two-way player in the nation as a sophomore. Began to focus solely on pitching early in his junior season at TCU, where he was named Big 12 Pitcher and Newcomer of the Year. Led the Big 12 in strikeouts-per-nine and was 12th nationally in that statistic. Named to 2025 Spring Breakout roster. Skipped Low-A entirely and made his pro debut in High-A Greenville. Entered the back end of the Baseball America Top 100 prospect list in May 2025 and rose into the top 50 by midseason. Became our top-ranked prospect in late July 2025.
Summation: Potential mid-rotation starter, but projection is fluid given the strides he has made since joining the organization. Ceiling of a number two starter, but even that may be light. Could get to the majors in 2025 using just his fastball, but secondary stuff needs continued development to reach his potential. Outlier fastball gives him a high floor, especially combined with his frame and ability to mix in four secondary pitches. Lacks a go-to out pitch right now among those secondaries, but all grade out around average and have improved as 2025 has gone on. This allows him to mix and match while he finds which one is working in a given outing. Cutter and curveball, which were both new additions during the 2025 season, have shown considerable potential, especially the former. Cutter plays well off his fastball as a pitch to change eye level and generate weak contact. Changeup has also improved considerably since he signed and flashes more upside than his breaking balls at times, but in other outings his cutter or slider have served as his primary out pitch. Could stand to gain more separation between the two breaking balls, as they blend together at times. Has turned into one of the top left-handed pitching prospects in all of baseball in a short amount of time. Very unique pitching prospect given his size and delivery, especially given that he only began to focus exclusively on pitching in his junior season. Massive extension to the plate grades near the top of all pitchers in pro ball. Type of arm that you want to bring into the player development system with some standout traits to build on. Extremely competitive on the mound.
Photo Credit: Payton Tolle by Kelly O'Connor
Ian Cundall is Director of Scouting for SoxProspects.com. Follow him on Twitter/X @IanCundall and on Bluesky @iancundall.bsky.social.