Boston's 'cartoon character' becoming a force on the mound

This story was excerpted from Ian Browne’s Red Sox Beat newsletter. To read the full newsletter, click here. And subscribe to get it regularly in your inbox.

ATLANTA – The evolution of Payton Tolle has been something to behold for the Red Sox, who haven’t had a ton to smile about so far this season but can look glowingly at their entertaining 23-year-old who has emerged into a beast (2.05 ERA in five starts) since his promotion from Triple-A Worcester on April 23.

The large lefty practically breathes fire on the mound, prances off it after a good inning, and hangs or shakes his head in disgust when he makes a rare misfire. He is an open book, and one who is energizing a 19-27 team that is trying to get back on better footing.

“Yeah, he’s a cartoon character, so it's fantastic,” said Red Sox pitching coach Andrew Bailey.

For a few minutes, Tolle was bummed out late in Spring Training when he lost the No. 5 starter competition to his close friend and fellow lefty Connelly Early. But the more Tolle thought about it, the idea of returning to Worcester to round out his arsenal sort of grew on him.

“You want to play baseball at the highest level, no matter what, so, yes, it was disappointing,” Tolle said. “But I was also very aware of, like, ‘This is a good thing. This is what I needed. I don’t need the trial by fire just yet. Go to Worcester, work on what we need to work on.’ Threw more offspeed pitches there the first four games that I pitched than I had in the games up here. Just having that time to work on things, get comfortable with it helped out.”

When Tolle dominated the Yankees in his April 23 return to Fenway (six innings, three hits, one run, one walk, 11 strikeouts) it was eye-opening for reasons beyond the results.

He looked like a different pitcher than the one who was put into a tough situation for the final month of last season, called up to the Majors in the middle of a pennant race just a year after getting drafted because Boston’s rotation options were depleted by injuries.

This Tolle was flipping curveballs for strikes when he needed to, dropping in a key changeup at critical times, and, yeah, throwing that overpowering, high-90s heat.

Though it was just one game, Tolle can now confidently say it was a springboard to the run he is currently on, which included holding the heavy-hitting Braves to two runs over a career high of eight innings on Saturday in a 3-2 win by the Red Sox.

“It made me feel like more of a complete pitcher than I was last year, when I was just trying to throw the ball by guys every time,” Tolle said. “That doesn't work. I was just able to pitch a little bit more, instead of just throw.”

Though Tolle has turned his offspeed stuff into pitches that can change eye levels and keep hitters off-balance, make no mistake about who he is now and will be going forward.

“I think the command of those pitches took a step forward,” said Bailey. “But to me, the key for a pitcher like Tolle is just to be on the attack non-stop with your best weapons, and those are generally going to be his four-seamer and sinker, and we know he can use the other stuff as needed.”

What made Saturday’s performance in Atlanta so interesting is that Tolle had just three strikeouts and six whiffs out of 85 pitches and 44 swings.

“He threw two really good changeups in that start, and it's kind of all he needed from a changeup standpoint, and mixing the curveball a little bit here and there, and the cutters,” said Bailey. “But he was able to get back in counts consistently, it's just a matter of just playing that game.”

While Red Sox ace Garrett Crochet has been impressed by Tolle since his initial callup for the final month of last season, he gained a new level of respect for his teammate after watching him mow through the Braves.

“Obviously, just an elite competitor, but has grown a lot in terms of his arsenal and the entirety of it, and just the ability to pitch,” said Crochet. “You see him Saturday night on a night where it looks like he's kind of grinding, and not really his best self, and then you look at the line at the end of the game, and you're like, that's a pretty good day for grinding. I don't want to put too much on him, but I mean, we expect that of him now. He’s a big guy and carries himself with confidence. I think that he welcomes that.”

The Tolle who was positively ecstatic late last season when he threw his first 100 mph offering and got a T-shirt as a reward (as the Sox do for every player in the organization who throws 100 for the first time) is now driven almost exclusively by something else – winning games.

The other thing that makes him tick is his pure love for the game.

“I’m having the most fun always,” Tolle said. “Baseball is a fun game and it’s my job to go out there and show people why I love it so much. Absolutely [I’m having fun]. It’s The Show.”

Tolle could be on the verge of becoming a showstopper.