TORONTO — Red Sox rookie Payton Tolle reached triple-digits with his fastball for the first time ever during the ninth inning in a 7-1 win over the Blue Jays on Wednesday.
He topped out at 100.1 mph.
“I get a shirt now,” Tolle said, smiling. “It’s pretty cool.”
Director of pitching Justin Willard gives T-shirts with the message “I throw fuego” to every pitcher in the organization who reaches 100 mph.
Tolle not only will receive the yellow shirt — but he also will receive the Red Sox minor league Pitcher of the Year award during a pregame ceremony at Fenway Park on Friday.
The Red Sox announced their minor league awards Thursday. The 22-year-old Tolle, who Boston drafted in the second round out of TCU in July 2024, started the season in High-A Greenville. He received a promotion to Double-A Portland on June 24, a promotion to Triple-A Worcester on Aug. 6 and a promotion to the big leagues Aug. 29.
“I’m grateful — the journey that it’s been,” Tolle said. “God’s got me along the way and just kind of trusting his plan and understanding things will happen whenever they happen.”
The 6-foot-7 lefty posted a 3.04 ERA and 0.99 WHIP while holding opponents to a .203 batting average in 20 minor league outings (18 starts). He struck out 133 batters in 91 ⅔ innings.
Tolle said about his mentality entering the season, “At least let’s get to Portland and work from there. … Put the head down and we’ll get to the end and wherever we’re at, we’re at. So it worked out. It was a great ride.”
Tolle allowed just two runs and struck out eight over 5 ⅓ innings in his big league debut against the Pirates on Aug. 29. He has experienced ups and downs since then. Overall, he has allowed 11 earned runs in 15 ⅓ innings.
“I think everybody has seen the growing pains a little bit,” Tolle said. “It’s a lot different. These hitters have plans and they execute those plans. So it’s been different from level to level. And each time I move, I’m trying to learn something new about myself and about the game. But I think that we’ve seen the growing pains. I think we’re starting to turn it around. But every time I go out there, I’m trying to pick something up. Because success is going to leave clues and failure is going to leave bigger clues.”
Tolle is in the 86th percentile in fastball velocity (96.6 mph). The pitch plays, especially with his 99th percentile extension. But he needs to refine his secondary pitches this offseason. If those improve, his fastball will play even more.
“I think there’s a lot of room for my curveball downer to improve, along with the changeup. Just like just kind of developing feel of those,” Tolle said. “But that’s kind of something that whenever that time comes, we’ll have those conversations and whatever they want to tell me, I know I’m gonna go home and work really hard at it.”
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