Bethany Native Payton Tolle Makes Red Sox History In His MLB Debut

Bethany native Payton Tolle made his highly-anticipated MLB debut for the Boston Red Sox against the Pittsburgh Pirates on Friday night at Fenway Park. The Pirates spoiled the night, battling back for a 4-2 victory, but Tolle provided all the electricity in Boston.

Red Sox Impact Plays

Tolle, the Red Sox No. 2 prospect, pitched 5 1/3 innings, giving up two earned runs on two walks and just three base hits. But his fastball was electric, and he struck out 8. Those 8 strikeouts are the most in an MLB debut by a Red Sox pitcher since Daisuke Matsuzake had 10 in 2007, that's according to MLB.com's Ian Browne.

The lefty struck out the first batter he faced, Jared Triolo. Using his fastball on 81 percent of his 84 pitches, Tolle induced 14 swings and misses, which was three more than Pittsburgh Pirates ace Paul Skenes.

When Red Sox manager Alex Cora pulled him in the 6th inning, the Fenway crowd gave him a standing ovation. As he walked to the dugout, he pointed toward his father, Chad, who was in the stands. His mother Jina passed away from cancer just two months before the Red Sox drafted him. The Red Sox left an open seat in her memory with roses on it. 

“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.”

Payton Tolle Stats

The Boston Red Sox selected Tolle in the second round of the 2024 of the MLB Draft. He made his professional debut with the Greenville Drive earlier this season. Across three minor league levels, Tolle recorded a 3.04 ERA, 0.99 WHIP and 133 strikeouts over 91.2 innings.