Baltimore-Payton Tolle time is up.
Sources said Thursday that the Red Sox are promoting their fast-pitching prospect Tolle to make their debut in Friday night against Paul Skenes and the Buccaneers at Fenway Park.
For 22-year-old left-handed Thor, it's the latest and most dramatic step to climb the minor league in five months. His development and dominance in his first professional season, and his arduous demand at the major league level, inspired Chief Baseball Officer Craig Breslow and the Red Sox, giving him a shot.
“These things are real,” manager Alex Cora said last week. “He's very effective. Strike zone. I think everyone is happy with the progress.”
Tolle appeared in his first minor league game with Greenville High A High A Greenville on April 4. Sox promoted to Portland in late June and again tripled Worcester in early August. That was his shortest stop, three starts.
Get the starting point
At these three levels, Tolle became one of the most effective pitchers for all minors, having 3.04 ERA and 0.99 whip in 91 innings.
This is beyond the best scenario envisioned by the Red Sox in the second round of the July 2024 pick.
“Even if you watch it at last year’s draft – it’s so crazy, we’re talking about a guy who was in the draft last year and he’s already been able to look at it from a speed perspective, from learning different courts, new pitches, it’s so crazy, it’s so crazy.”
“When you think about development, development is purely learning. How fast can they learn? It's so cool to see him being able to pick things up quickly, add things to his arsenal, and use them in the game right away.”
Listed at 6-foot-6 (250 pounds), Tolle has a fastball that goes above the 90s and proves tricky for a batsman due to his low-arm slot and stretch (distance from the board where he released the ball). He also put in a slider and switch and worked on cutting machines and switch cars.
Sox rotated to open an opening after they demoted Walker Buehler to the bullpen last week.
Tim Healey can be contacted at [email protected]. Follow him @timbhealey.