BOSTON -- A day after tears flowed out of Payton Tolle’s eyes when he was informed of his pending call-up to the Major Leagues for a Friday night debut against Pirates ace Paul Skenes, cheers poured out of a packed Fenway Park as the 22-year-old lefty went to work.
Tolle made his presence felt from pitch one, a 96.9 mph fastball for a called strike. Three pitches later, he sent Jared Triolo back to the dugout on 98.3 mph heat.
It was a memorable night for the best pitching prospect the Red Sox have had in years. Over 5 1/3 innings, Tolle gave up three hits and two runs, walking two and striking out eight in Boston's 4-2 loss to Pittsburgh. He threw 84 pitches, 53 of them for strikes.
“My goodness. Chills. A lot of chills,” Tolle said. “I came off the mound after the first [inning] and I couldn't feel my feet. It was the greatest experience of my life. I’ll look back on this day for a long time, just thinking about this moment.”
Less than 14 months after the Red Sox made him the 50th overall pick in the 2024 Draft, Tolle walked off to a huge standing ovation when manager Alex Cora came out to get him with a rally in progress.
Tolle took a second to soak it all in with his new teammates as his manager came out to get him.
“I turned to all the guys in the infield and I said, ‘I think you guys are really, really cool,'” said Tolle.
Then, Tolle thought of his parents. His father Chad was in the stands. His mom Jina, who died from cancer two months before the Red Sox drafted him, was on his mind. In a classy gesture, the Red Sox left an empty seat in Jina’s memory with roses on it.
As Tolle walked to the dugout, he pointed toward his father.
“Every time that I come out and I know he’s there, I’ll try to give him an, ‘I love you.’ So, I was trying to find him. He was up there somewhere,” said Tolle. “But the other side of that was looking up [to the sky] and hearing my mom still saying, ‘You're still a hack.’ But I was very pleased with it and just kind of came off the field after giving it everything I had. I competed and had fun.”
Chad had fun once Payton was done pitching.
“It’s never fun until it’s over. I’m a nervous wreck. I know what type of work he has put in and always has. It’s just very nerve-wracking,” Chad Tolle said.
Perhaps even more than getting 16 outs in his first encounter with a Major League lineup, Payton Tolle’s biggest challenge was trying not to cry for the second day in a row when the Fenway crowd of 36,344 gave him such a warm sendoff as he completed his debut.
“I was fighting back tears. I’m not gonna lie,” Tolle said. “It was special and the work I feel like I put in for a long time kind of came to fruition in that 30-second little moment there.”
Though Tolle walked off with a 2-0 lead, the Pirates got back-to-back doubles from Tommy Pham and Andrew McCutchen off Greg Weissert just after his exit.
"He kind of reminds me of Chris Sale a little bit with his arm angle and his extension,” said McCutchen. “He's obviously bigger than [Sale] is, but just from the way he was releasing it, it felt a lot like Sale. He has electric stuff. His fastball is electric. Everyone was obviously able to see that, and what he's able to do.”
No matter when Boston’s No. 2 prospect (as rated by MLB Pipeline) made his debut, it would have been a buzz-worthy event.
But the fact it came opposite Skenes made the night all the more special.
“I think that's the dream of the job -- being able to have that Friday night in Boston and against another really good pitcher, you kind of feel like you get battle-tested quick,” said Tolle. “You get that fire, that height of the game. Being able to share the rubber with somebody like that, it's going to continue to happen, but I’m just super proud of it.”
It was just last season Skenes made his debut and swiftly ascended to stardom.
"I'm the seasoned veteran now,” quipped Skenes. “I've watched video of him. His stuff is really good. I didn't get a ton of time to watch him tonight. I'll be watching him."
Even in defeat, the Red Sox were able to relish the fact that they witnessed the first steps of a potential ace.
“It was a great night for us,” said Cora. “It sucked that we didn't win, but the overall picture, that was a step forward for the organization.”