Tolle Fans Seven Over Six Innings, Averages 96.3 MPH for Worcester

Payton Tolle delivered the bounce-back outing Boston's top prospect desperately needed Sunday, fanning seven batters over six innings as the Worcester Red Sox beat the St. Paul Saints 4-2 in the first game of a doubleheader at CHS Field. Tolle averaged 96.3 mph on his fastball and kept the Twins' Triple-A affiliate largely off-balance in what amounted to a controlled, efficient performance from a pitcher who had looked anything but a week earlier.

The start was a significant step forward for the 23-year-old left-hander, a 2024 second-round pick (50th overall) out of Texas Christian University who had struggled through his season debut on March 30 against Syracuse, allowing six runs, four earned, over just four innings. Against St. Paul, he worked six clean enough frames to give Worcester the lead it needed, and the bullpen held on for the 4-2 final.

Tolle entered 2026 having already shown he could handle the big leagues: he made his MLB debut on Aug. 29, 2025 at Fenway Park, recording two earned runs in 9.1 innings at the park while facing NL Cy Young winner Paul Skenes in his first professional outing at the top level. The Red Sox sent him back to Worcester just 72 hours before Opening Day this spring, opting instead for a rotation built around offseason additions Ranger Suarez, Sonny Gray, and Johan Oviedo. The demotion, Tolle acknowledged publicly, stings, but the directive from Boston is clear: sharpen the secondary stuff, rely less on the heater.

Sunday was a sign that recalibration may be clicking. Tolle's fastball, which he threw 64 percent of the time in 2025 and sat around 96.7 mph that season, played right in that range against St. Paul's lineup. The key development question entering the year centered on whether he could mix in his cutter and changeup consistently enough to keep hitters from sitting dead-red. The seven-strikeout performance suggests the answer is trending positive.

Worcester went on to sweep the twin bill, with Mickey Gasper providing the offensive fireworks in Game 2 by hitting two home runs for five RBIs against his former club. Kristian Campbell also went deep, and shortstop Mikey Romero extended his hot start to the season. For Tolle, the headline was simpler: six innings, seven punchouts, a win, and a reason for Boston to keep watching the radar gun point north of 96.