The
Red Sox
have another prospect on MLB’s top 100 list.
Payton Tolle
cracked
the latest rankings on Saturday
, coming in at No. 100.
The left-handed pitcher joins Franklin Arias (No. 37), Jhostynxon Garcia (No. 97) an Roman Anthony No. 1).
The Red Sox drafted Tolle in the second round (50th overall) out of TCU in 2024.
Baseball America ranked the southpaw No. 84 among its
Top 100 prospects
.
Tolle, who’s considered to be Boston’s best pitching prospect in its system —
was promoted to Double-A Portland in June
after dominating in High-A Greenville. The pitcher posted a 3.62 ERA with 79 strikeouts in 49⅔ innings in 11 appearances (10 starts).
In four games (three starts) for the Sea Dogs, Tolle has a 2.00 ERA with 27 strikeouts in 18 innings pitched.
MLB Pipeline noted he has a “nearly unhittable fastball.”
Tolle’s fastball, which reaches 96 mph, is something that caught chief baseball officer Craig Breslow’s eyes because it was difficult to hit even in the low 90s.
“You look at it like, ‘OK, what does this guy do really well? What makes him unique?’ And it’s this elite extension, fastball profile gets a ton of swing and miss on it,”
Breslow said
. “And you say, ‘OK, he’s pitching 90-94. What happens if this takes a step forward?’ Then you get a chance to get something really elite.”
During his time in Greenville, Tolle averaged 14.3 strikeouts per nine innings.
