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This season, we saw the future of the Boston Red Sox on the mound. Garrett Hook, acquired at a high price last winter, has been dominant all year… and we've seen some youngsters start to grow.
The big name is undoubtedly Connelly Early, who even started a playoff game for the club. But Early wasn't the only one: we also saw Payton Tolle make his show debut.
He played seven games, including three starts.
It hasn't necessarily been easy for him, but generally speaking, we're talking about a guy who's held in high esteem by the Red Sox. In fact, we'd go so far as to compare him to none other than Jon Lester, a guy with quite a reputation in Boston.
It was his AA manager, Chad Epperson, who compared him to Lester.
High praise for Payton Tolle
He headlines our 2026 Red Sox rankings: https://t.co/1LyuRWXW74 pic.twitter.com/tNbDtWDQve
– Baseball America (@BaseballAmerica) November 28, 2025
And in actuality, it's pretty easy to see the similarities between the two guys. We're talking about two big, burly left-handers who are dominant on the mound.
They differ a bit in how they do it (Tolle does it with strikeouts, while Lester was great at avoiding safe hits), but they both fit the profile of an important piece of a rotation.
At just 23, Tolle still has a lot of work to do to become a pitcher of Lester's calibre. However, he is undoubtedly one of the organization's bright prospects on the mound, especially as the club already has a nice long-term foundation.
Hook has already established himself as an ace pitcher, Brayan Bello still has many years ahead of him and Connelly Early has also shown great promise. So Tolle doesn't have the pressure of being the saviour.
So, we'll see if Tolle can eventually establish himself as a top-of-the-rotation pitcher in Boston, but there's optimism in that direction. To be continued.
This content was created with the help of AI.
