The Boston Red Sox have been heading through rumor-central station these past couple of days. With Justin Slaten and Rob Refsnyder returning, along with more roster moves (like Jovani Moran back to AAA Worcester, Walker Buehler moving to the bullpen, and Richard Fitts moving to the IL), there's room for a sneaky move. That move could just be bringing up MLB's #28 Prospect Payton Tolle from AAA.
Payton Tolle Could Face Paul Skenes if Promoted for Friday's Game
Tolle, if he gets called up tomorrow, will be starting against the NL Cy Young front-runner, Paul Skenes, who, in many ways, is just like Tolle but right-handed. Dustin May has reportedly been pushed back from starting on Friday to Saturday instead, which has opened a whirlwind of rumors that have caught fire. This couldn't have happened at a better time.
Sitting as the #2 overall prospect in the Red Sox farm system, he's legit just "sitting" and waiting for his call-up to the big leagues. In his only three starts, he's struck out 17 batters in 15 full innings pitched. The only thing that had gone bad for him was his first start, where he gave up seven runs in just 5 innings pitched. It started due to a Mikey Romero error, but in baseball, it is what it is.
He got back into his old self and shrugged it off in his last two starts, where he really lit up the place, striking out 14 batters in 10 innings, striking out nine in his last appearance against Jacksonville. His ERA went from 9.00 in early August to 3.60 now, only giving up one earned run.
Right now, WooSox manager Chad Tracy is figuring out whether the returning LHP Shane Drohan will get the start tomorrow or Tolle will. This also depends on whether or not Breslow calls him up during that time. We will find these answers in just a few short hours.