February 24, 2026 at 10:00 AM
Fort Report: Tolle, Early get nods in early Grapefruit League action
Young hurlers in spotlight
As usual at this juncture of the spring, the pitching load has been heavily weighted toward the prospects. Top prospect Payton Tolle (pictured) got the start on Sunday, with third-ranked Connelly Early following on Monday. Tyler Uberstine, ranked 13th and added to the 40-man roster in the offseason, got the nod for the Northeastern game on Friday. Mixed in was Saturday's outing from 2022 SoxProspects.com valedictorian Brayan Bello.
Tolle allowed one run on a solo homer in two innings, striking out one. Per Tim Healey of The Boston Globe (another SoxProspects.com graduate), Andrew Bailey envisions him deploying a "three-headed monster" of speed: his excellent four-seam fastball, a sharpened cutter, and a brand new two-seamer. JJ Cooper and Geoff Pontes of Baseball America also discussed Tolle on their recent podcast jaunt through the American League East.
Playoff standout Early went two scoreless in his outing. Healey and Pete Abraham discuss his effort at the Globe.
While Tolle and Early both saw rapid ascents through the system, it was a very different path for Uberstine. Healey checks in once again with the story on how the 26-year-old righty became perhaps the most unlikely player in major league camp. His 2025 also earned him recognition as the SoxProspects.com Comeback Player of the Year.
Yes, the Red Sox also still have hitters in the minor leagues
The biggest story coming out of minor league camp is about the biggest player out of minor league camp. Justin Gonzales checked in to spring training at a WWF-sized six-foot-seven, 277 pounds. Alex Speier of the Globe discussed his goal of hitting the ball in the air more frequently. There were no updates as to any work on a running powerslam as of press time.
Over in big league camp, uncertainty about the status of Romy Gonzalez has made Mikey Romero a dark horse candidate to break camp with the MLB club, per MLB.com.
Your #1 Source
The official SoxProspects Fort Myers trip is planned for mid-March, but there is plenty of content coming along leading up to then.
Feature writer Andrew Parker is in Fort Myers already, with reports from both minor and major league camp. Tag along with him on BlueSky and/or Twitter.
Parker also hopped aboard this week's podcast with Ian Cundall to discuss his early observations.
We have also kicked off our annual top 60 countdown on our social media sites. So follow the site on Instagram, Bluesky, and Twitter to stay up to date.
Minor league campers in MLB games
The Red Sox have pulled several players from the backfields in the early going. The following players, not in major league camp, appeared in an MLB game this week (those marked with an asterisk appeared only in the Northeastern game and therefore will not show in the official standings):
Position Players: Marvin Alcantara*, Caden Rose, Phillip Sikes*, Jack Winnay*
Pitchers: Cooper Adams, Jay Allmer, Jack Anderson*, Calvin Bickerstaff, Max Carlson*, Patrick Halligan, Jorge Juan, PJ Labriola, Michael Sansone, Reidis Sena
Where are they now?
Two updates for our longtime readers this week:
Hunter Strickland, drafted by the Red Sox eight months before Dorian Soto was born, is in Angels camp trying to extend his major league career. The 37-year-old righty has pitched in 11 major league seasons for eight teams and won a World Series with the 2014 San Francisco Giants.
Raul Alcantara, traded 15 years ago in the trade that brought Andrew Bailey to the Red Sox as a player, has signed on for another year with the Kiwoom Heroes of the KBO. After modest MLB success with the Oakland A's, Alcantara has carved himself a nice career in Asia since 2019, pitching in both Korea and Japan. The 2020 Dong-won Choi Award winner (the KBO equivalent of the Cy Young) had a nice bounceback in 2025 after a down 2024 campaign, posting a 3.27 ERA and striking out 92 batters against only 10 walks in 121 innings.
Photo Credit: Payton Tolle by Kelly O'Connor