What Went Wrong For Payton Tolle Vs. Diamondbacks?

Payton Tolle’s second career Major League outing wasn’t as exciting as his first. The Boston Red Sox starter pitched three innings against the Arizona Diamondbacks and allowed five runs in the process. He struck out two while walking four. He took his first career loss as Arizona won 10-5.

There were a few issues for Tolle on Friday. First pitch strikes were one of them. The lefty faced 17 hitters and fell behind nine of them 1-0. That’s a stark contrast from his debut, in which he threw first-pitch strikes to 14 of 21 batters.

That issue surfaced because the Diamondbacks were able to hit Tolle’s fastball. In the first inning, Tolle threw 62% fastballs. Arizona was ready for them, fouling off several and battling through long at-bats. Tolle responded by turning to his secondary pitches and only threw 46% fastballs in the next two games.

While Tolle and the Red Sox coaching staff deserve credit for identifying the Diamondbacks’ game plan and adjusting, the lefty didn’t execute well enough to pitch deep into the game. His cutter only held a 56% strike rate, while his curveball and changeup were hardly in the strike zone.

Due to the lack of strikes, Tolle found himself in poor counts, and Arizona made him pay. They drew four walks and cashed in on them when Ildemaro Vargas hit a three-run home run on a middle-middle fastball as Tolle showed signs of fatigue.

The Diamondbacks deserve credit for being able to handle Tolle’s fastball. The pitch metrics were excellent; the pitch should serve Tolle fine going forward, but Arizona was up to the task. The Diamondbacks are one of the best teams in baseball against left-handed pitchers, a big step up from his debut against the Pittsburgh Pirates.

The Red Sox lack rotation depth at this point in the season, so they’ll continue to look to Tolle for outs.