From heartwarming messages on his glove to in-game push-ups, an immaculate inning and, of course, an easily recognizable mustache, Red Sox lefty Payton Tolle put together a truly unforgettable rookie season. Beyond his one-of-a-kind personality, Tolle pitched awfully well, too. He recorded a 3.03 ERA across 26 starts in his first full MLB season.
Tolle has joined Miguel Rojas and Ernie Clement as official MLB World Series Correspondents ahead of Friday’s Game 1 between the Rays and Brewers. Tolle attended Thursday’s Media Day and will be at Game 1, appearing on MLB Network and producing content across MLB social media channels.
Part of that was an “Ask Me Anything” (or, AMA) on MLB’s official Reddit account. Here are some of the best questions and answers from the session.
Q: On a personal level, what was your favorite moment of the 2026 season?
Tolle: The 15-game [win] streak kinda brought us together, and that’s what we’ll be defined for, I think … In the Tampa Bay series (the 4-game sweep), there were some amazing moments that came out of it. That series was really fun.
Q: What inspired your mustache style?
Tolle: Initially, it was Tom Selleck, now it’s kinda taken on a life of its own. It gets squirrely sometimes, and I gotta cut it down. My Mount Rushmore of mustaches: Dennis Eckersley, Tom Selleck, Rollie Fingers, and you could do an entire wall with the guys from “Tombstone.”
Q: What is your most controversial food opinion?
Tolle: I don’t know why, but Raising Cane’s keeps giving me coleslaw, and I'm not a coleslaw guy. I am a nugget/tender guy over bone-in, so I get pretty good hate for that back home. You get more food, and it’s less work!
Q: What's the funniest clubhouse moment you've experienced that you're allowed to tell us about?
Tolle: The whole team got very into cards, and it was an ongoing joke that Greg Weissert would never get a pull, like he would never get a good card at all. I remember when we were in Seattle, he got a box, and each box was supposed to have one hit/one autograph, and he got a box and there was nothing … just base everything. So that was really funny.
Q: Who is on your Mount Rushmore of pitching?
Tolle: Nolan Ryan and Randy Johnson … and the two guys I grew up watching and still try to imitate (and have heard are all-time great people and baseball players), Chris Sale and Clayton Kershaw.
Q: What's your go-to karaoke song -- and do you actually sing it, or does your go-to song just look good on paper?
Tolle: “The Climb” by Miley Cyrus if I’m solo; if I’m a duet, it’s “Islands in the Stream” by Dolly Parton and Kenny Rogers (I sing the Dolly Parton part).
Q: For Halloween, are you going as the Lorax or as Ron Swanson?
Tolle: I’ve already done the Lorax, and Ron Swanson would be good, but I think my wife and I are doing two of the characters from “50 First Dates” - I’m wearing the mop from when he acts like Drew Barrymore in the video, and she’ll be the brother with the fishnet shirt.