2026 Fantasy Baseball Feature Ace: Payton Tolle

The Red Sox have two talented lefties close to helping their major league roster. Payton Tolle posted a 4.05 ERA and eight strikeouts over his first 6.2 innings in spring training, highlighted by a triple digit fastball.

SP Payton Tolle, Boston Red Sox | Rick Scuteri-Imagn Images

The Boston Red Sox drafted Tolle in the second round of the 2024 MLB June Amateur Draft after a mediocre career over three seasons in college (20-13 with a 4.09 ERA, 1.264 WHIP, and 271 strikeouts over 233.1 innings). He showed better command in 2023 (2.0 walks per nine), but a higher strikeout rate (13.8) last year.

Payton Tolle, Boston Red Sox (NFBC ADP – 430)

After progression over 11 games at High A (3.62 ERA, 1.168 WHIP, and 79 strikeouts over 49.2 innings), Tolle showed dominance over 27.0 innings at AA (five runs, 20 baserunners, and 37 strikeouts). The Red Sox pushed him to AAA for three more starts (3.60 ERA, 0.867 WHIP, and 17 strikeouts over 15.0 innings).

Boston gave him a spot start in late August, leading to a winning MLB debut (two runs, five baserunners, and eight strikeouts over 5.1 innings). Tolle was bombed in his next two games (seven runs, 12 baserunners, and four home runs over five innings with four strikeouts), pushing him to the bullpen for four appearances (3.00 ERA, 1.500 WHIP, and seven strikeouts over six innings).

Payton Tolle, 100.4 mph ⛽️ pic.twitter.com/qriwtEox1S

— Rob Friedman (@PitchingNinja) March 5, 2026

His average fastball (96.3 mph) fell into a plus area. Tolle features a high-volume four-seamer (.230 BAA), supported by a cutter (.429 BAA) and slider (.100 BAA). His curveball (.143 BAA) and changeup (.429 BAA) fall into the developmental mode.

Fantasy Outlook: Tolle had 371 at-bats in his college career, resulting in a .294 batting average with 53 runs, 18 home runs, 81 RBIs, and one steal. His left arm flashed a higher ceiling in 2025, but he must develop his secondary pitches to have success at the major league level.

With his limited experience at AAA and fade last year with Boston, Tolle may need more development time in the minors. His strikeout ability is high, and he threw enough strikes in 2025 to believe his command should fall in a winning area quickly in his career. Player to follow this spring, and his arm could come faster than expected.