Red Sox Could Have MLB’s Best Left-Handed Pitching Prospect
Payton Tolle and Connelly Early both made their MLB debuts in 2025
Here’s an early Christmas present for you: The Boston Red Sox have arguably the best left-handed pitching prospect in MLB. And it’s not Connelly Early.
MLB.com’s Jim Callis made the case for Payton Tolle as the best southpaw down on the farm.
Callis noted Tolle started the 2025 season as Boston’s No. 16 prospect overall. But the burly lefty finished the season as the Red Sox’s No. 2 prospect and No. 28 in all of baseball.
Tolle rocketed through the farm system in 2025, advancing all the way from High-A Greenville to The Show.
He appeared in seven games with the Red Sox, making three starts. While he posted a 6.06 ERA, Tolle flashed elite strikeout stuff, mowing down 19 batters in 16.1 innings.
“In the first half of the season he had a 46 percent swing-and-miss rate on his fastball in the Minors. I’ve never seen that,” Callis wrote. “They’ve had him dial back his fastball usage, his slider got better, he added a little power to it, his changeup has gotten a little bit better.
“He’s always thrown strikes. We saw him get to the big leagues and pitch in the playoffs,” Callis added.
“The Red Sox helped him get better, and that fastball is so good that if you wanted to make the case that he’s the best left-handed pitching prospect in baseball, I think you’re arguing him with Thomas White (Miami Marlins) and Kade Anderson (Seattle Mariners), you could make a case for Payton Tolle. Which, a year ago, I never would have thought I would have heard myself say,” Callis concluded.
Tolle could be a big part of the big-league pitching staff in 2026. It just depends on how the rest of the offseason goes.
Red Sox chief baseball officer Craig Breslow has added right-handers Sonny Gray and Johan Oviedo through a pair of trades. But Boston let Lucas Giolito walk in free agency and sent Hunter Dobbins to the St. Louis Cardinals in the Willson Contreras deal.
Even if he doesn’t break spring training with the Red Sox, Tolle will find his way back to the majors. It’s just a matter of time.
