He’s Payton Tolle from Bethany, Oklahoma. At 6-6 and 250 pounds, Tolle has the look of the quintessential midwestern flamethrower, plucked from the oil fields to show off his stuff under the bright lights of the big city. You know, this kid:

Tolle was selected by the Red Sox with the 50th pick in the draft, just last year. The Sox hadn’t used such a high pick on a pitcher since Tanner Houck in 2017, after years of the Chaim Bloom-led front office pursing a deliberate strategy of swerving pitchers in the early rounds of the draft. It isn’t hard to see why Craig Breslow and company liked Tolle so much. Tolle was named the Big XII Pitcher of the Year in 2024, after he put up a 3.21 ERA for TCU, striking out 125 batters in 81.1 innings pitched.

While Tolle would certainly love to become the

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