Breaking: Red Sox Calling No. 2 Prospect Payton Tolle Up to Big Leagues

[Alex Mayes]

The Boston Red Sox are calling up their number two ranked prospect, LHP Payton Tolle, according to The Athletic’s Ken Rosenthal. Tolle has been on an insane rise through Boston’s system after being taken in the second round of the 2024 draft out of TCU. Tolle made three starts for Triple-A Worcester before his call up.

Tolle’s first taste of WooSox action was less than desirable, but he has rebounded and shown enough that the Red Sox feel comfortable lining him up to start opposite Pirates’ phenom Paul Skenes on Friday at Fenway Park. The organization is showing a ton of confidence in the young hurler and he looks to slot in behind Brayan Bello and Lucas Giolito as the fourth arm on the starter depth chart.

Should Tolle dominate at the major league level the way he has at every level of the minors, then the Red Sox have added another long-term keeper to their starting rotation. That should help them to kickstart their championship window, possibly as soon as this year.

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[moonslav59]

Mayer to 60 Day IL.

[Nick]

I'm doing back flips.

Yes, Yes, and Yes.

I want to see all the youngsters.

[Larry Cook]

17 minutes ago, Nick said:

I'm doing back flips.

Yes, Yes, and Yes.

I want to see all the youngsters.

I would like to see early get some innings the bullpen this year. 

[Randy Red Sox]

37 minutes ago, Nick said:

I'm doing back flips.

Yes, Yes, and Yes.

I want to see all the youngsters.

i think they are rushing this kid.  Hope it doesn't backfire

[Hugh2]

An absolute no brainer if you ask me.

kid dominated the minors.  They aren’t losing a year of control. You have a month left in the season and you’re 3.5 games out of first place.

you gotta roll with your best 13 pitchers.  Tolle is where he belongs 

[moonslav59]

1 hour ago, Hugh2 said:

An absolute no brainer if you ask me.

kid dominated the minors.  They aren’t losing a year of control. You have a month left in the season and you’re 3.5 games out of first place.

you gotta roll with your best 13 pitchers.  Tolle is where he belongs 

This is the time you put your best players on the 26. (The same should go for Bernardino > Buehler, Hicks and even Wilson, but he can be called back up in 3 days.)

[Hugh2]

Just now, moonslav59 said:

This is the time you put your best players on the 26. (The same should go for Bernardino > Buehler, Hicks and even Wilson, but he can be called back up in 3 days.)

I think they are worried about losing Hicks, they think they can get him right.  They will keep him over the offseason, and if they can get his control under control....WATCH OUT.   Maybe he can be Chapman 2.0 for them. 

Buehler is starting to look really bad, I mean he already looks bad on the mound but it's looking worse that hes still on the roster.  I'd expec thim to not be here much longer, but with those two extra roster spots coming in a few days who knows.  Maybe they are still holding out for the 2024 playoff magic. 

[moonslav59]

7 minutes ago, Hugh2 said:

I think they are worried about losing Hicks, they think they can get him right.  They will keep him over the offseason, and if they can get his control under control....WATCH OUT.   Maybe he can be Chapman 2.0 for them. 

Buehler is starting to look really bad, I mean he already looks bad on the mound but it's looking worse that hes still on the roster.  I'd expec thim to not be here much longer, but with those two extra roster spots coming in a few days who knows.  Maybe they are still holding out for the 2024 playoff magic. 

I agree, this is the thinking.

Buehler & Wilson will not be back in 2026, so the equation is different with them. The hope for a return to helpfulness is shorter term.

I don't blame them for demoting Bernardino. I do wonder this...

They could have started May, tonight and Tolle on Saturday. This could have kept Bernardino available for 1 more game. He could have been sent down on SAT, after pitching tonight and brought back up Monday- nearly seamless.

Maybe they counted out the days and want one more start by Tolle over May by the end of the season.

[mvp 78]

8 hours ago, Larry Cook said:

I would like to see early get some innings the bullpen this year. 

Nah. 

[mvp 78]

36 minutes ago, Hugh2 said:

I think they are worried about losing Hicks, they think they can get him right.  They will keep him over the offseason, and if they can get his control under control....WATCH OUT.   Maybe he can be Chapman 2.0 for them. 

Buehler is starting to look really bad, I mean he already looks bad on the mound but it's looking worse that hes still on the roster.  I'd expec thim to not be here much longer, but with those two extra roster spots coming in a few days who knows.  Maybe they are still holding out for the 2024 playoff magic. 

Hicks has never had the record that Chapman did. If they think they can turn him into a closer, they are making a big mistake. Slaten or Whitlock maybe? 

[Hugh2]

9 minutes ago, mvp 78 said:

Hicks has never had the record that Chapman did. If they think they can turn him into a closer, they are making a big mistake. Slaten or Whitlock maybe? 

I'm sorry If I left the impression that they were going to turn him into a closer.  I just meant they have a pitcher who has really really good stuff but horrible control.  That was the parralel I was trying to draw. 

[mvp 78]

9 minutes ago, Hugh2 said:

I'm sorry If I left the impression that they were going to turn him into a closer.  I just meant they have a pitcher who has really really good stuff but horrible control.  That was the parralel I was trying to draw. 

That's what I thought when you said Chapman 2.0. Chapman is having a career year, but he was still a pretty good reliever prior to coming here. He didn't need to be completely remade. Hicks needs a complete overhaul. If he becomes a 7th inning guy, I'd be happy with it. Right now, it's not a comfortable watch no matter the lead. 

[5GoldGlovesOF,75]

10 hours ago, Randy Red Sox said:

i think they are rushing this kid.  Hope it doesn't backfire

The big worry is that he may ruin the Pirates for life!

[mvp 78]

4 minutes ago, 5GoldGlovesOF,75 said:

The big worry is that he may ruin the Pirates for life!

PIT is 29th in wRC+. They are probably already ruined. 

[moonslav59]

Hicks turns 29 in a few days. He likely will never get better. His best season was year 2, back in 2019.

He may end up being a useful moderate leverage RP'er, but I'm not counting on it.

[Maxbialystock]

3 hours ago, Hugh2 said:

I think they are worried about losing Hicks, they think they can get him right.  They will keep him over the offseason, and if they can get his control under control....WATCH OUT.   Maybe he can be Chapman 2.0 for them. 

Buehler is starting to look really bad, I mean he already looks bad on the mound but it's looking worse that hes still on the roster.  I'd expec thim to not be here much longer, but with those two extra roster spots coming in a few days who knows.  Maybe they are still holding out for the 2024 playoff magic. 

Hicks is no neophyte.  This is his 6th MLB season and his 4th MLB team and I can see no indication he has improved with the Sox.  

[moonslav59]

5 minutes ago, Maxbialystock said:

Hicks is no neophyte.  This is his 6th MLB season and his 4th MLB team and I can see no indication he has improved with the Sox.  

Throwing that hard always gets someone to think a tweak or two may turn him into something special.

I think he's had enough time.

[Hugh2]

21 hours ago, Maxbialystock said:

Hicks is no neophyte.  This is his 6th MLB season and his 4th MLB team and I can see no indication he has improved with the Sox.  

Hence why I said I think they may see him as an offseason project too.  Or not.

 

good teams are often able to take guys with some elite stuff and tinker, doesn’t always work, but the better teams figure it out with guys.

is Hicks that guy? Idk, but I’m hoping the Red Sox are that team.

[Hugh2]

On 8/29/2025 at 12:13 AM, Randy Red Sox said:

i think they are rushing this kid.  Hope it doesn't backfire

Looks like your hopes were fulfilled last night 

[Larry Cook]

30 minutes ago, Hugh2 said:

Looks like your hopes were fulfilled last night 

I thought Tolle was everything he was billed to be and more. The fastball played really well!!  
 

the secondaries were decent tonight too!!!

Really excited to see his development!! 

[Hugh2]

59 minutes ago, Larry Cook said:

I thought Tolle was everything he was billed to be and more. The fastball played really well!!  
 

the secondaries were decent tonight too!!!

Really excited to see his development!! 

He just seems to have that it factor.  He gets on the mound and it’s like he owns it

[moonslav59]

2 hours ago, Hugh2 said:

Hence why I said I think they may see him as an offseason project too.  Or not.

 

good teams are often able to take guys with some elite stuff and tinker, doesn’t always work, but the better teams figure it out with guys.

is Hicks that guy? Idk, but I’m hoping the Red Sox are that team.

I can see the reason for hoping he can put it all together, and we are just days away from a 14 man staff, so it will be easier to "hide" Hicks in low leverage situations, but I'm not optimistic. I think his 2026 leash will be short. If he and Buehler had swapped years of control, I think we'd have DFA Hicks, not Buehler.

[moonslav59]

46 minutes ago, Hugh2 said:

He just seems to have that it factor.  He gets on the mound and it’s like he owns it

I got that same sense.

[Maxbialystock]

On 8/29/2025 at 11:43 AM, moonslav59 said:

Throwing that hard always gets someone to think a tweak or two may turn him into something special.

I think he's had enough time.

Maybe the velocity is why he lacks control and a good curve/slider/changeup/whatever.  

[moonslav59]

7 minutes ago, Maxbialystock said:

Maybe the velocity is why he lacks control and a good curve/slider/changeup/whatever.  

I've never been Wow'd by these high velocity pitchers who have no or just a brief history of success. Guys like DHern come to mind. He has 16K/9 over his first 2 seasons but walked almost 8 per 9. He stuck around for 4 years, before we finally gave up on him.

[JoeBrady]

On 8/28/2025 at 8:10 PM, Alex Mayes said:

The Boston Red Sox are calling up their number two ranked prospect, LHP Payton Tolle, according to The Athletic’s Ken Rosenthal. Tolle has been on an insane rise through Boston’s system after being taken in the second round of the 2024 draft out of TCU. Tolle made three starts for Triple-A Worcester before his call up.

Tolle’s first taste of WooSox action was less than desirable, but he has rebounded and shown enough that the Red Sox feel comfortable lining him up to start opposite Pirates’ phenom Paul Skenes on Friday at Fenway Park. The organization is showing a ton of confidence in the young hurler and he looks to slot in behind Brayan Bello and Lucas Giolito as the fourth arm on the starter depth chart.

Should Tolle dominate at the major league level the way he has at every level of the minors, then the Red Sox have added another long-term keeper to their starting rotation. That should help them to kickstart their championship window, possibly as soon as this year.

 

View full rumor

 

What a nice way to start his career. Too bad the BP blew it, but the great start is the real takeaway. 

[mvp 78]

9 hours ago, JoeBrady said:

What a nice way to start his career. Too bad the BP blew it, but the great start is the real takeaway. 

Loved his start.the whole Tolle experience, if you’ve seen the Sox social media posts, has been A++ so far. I’m a huge fan of the guy.

[moonslav59]

2 hours ago, mvp 78 said:

Loved his start.the whole Tolle experience, if you’ve seen the Sox social media posts, has been A++ so far. I’m a huge fan of the guy.

I'd have pulled him after 5, but that is not meant to be a knock on Cora.

What's not to love about this guy, except too bad we couldn't start him today, too.