WORCESTER — Before Payton Tolle threw his first pitch for the WooSox, the 22-year-old left-hander wanted to keep his mindset simple heading into his Triple-A debut on Aug. 10.

“We’re just going to go out there and have fun,” Tolle told the T&G. “I think that’s the biggest part about it. Kind of show what I’m about, but, when I talk after, I hope I’m smiling a lot.” 

There wasn’t a whole lot to smile about, though, during his first inning in Triple A. But it wasn’t totally Tolle’s fault. 

After getting a popout from the first batter he faced, and then giving up a single, the Red Sox’ top pitching prospect induced a ground ball to second base. The ball, which could’ve potentially been turned for a double play, was booted for an error.

Two batters later, Tolle gave up a grand slam. He finished the inning having allowed five hits, six runs (five earned) and one walk. The Oklahoma native did strike out the final two batters of the inning. 

“We got punched in the face,” Tolle said. “It’s been a little bit since we got punched in the face. And it kind of took some learning.” 

“Things happen sometimes,” WooSox manager Chad Tracy said. ”But I was happy with the way he pitched.” 

Following the frustrating first frame, Tolle started to settle in at Polar Park.  

The burly lefty, with a robust mustache that WooSox teammates and coaches emulated by wearing fake black stashes in the dugout, allowed just three hits (no runs) across his final four innings.

Payton Tolle on WooSox teammates and coaches wearing fake mustaches for his AAA debut:

“It was very nice, very comforting. It’s kind of nice to feel loved by it. It was a good gesture but I think (with) the first inning, we’re done with the mustaches. Yeah, I’ll keep mine.” pic.twitter.com/f6O10ZZE9e

— Tommy Cassell (@tommycassell44) August 10, 2025

“(After) all the crap that happened there, I settled in a lot better,” Tolle told the T&G postgame. “Then finally in that fifth inning, I got to where we were on the offensive side of pitching, which was good.” 

Tolle finished with a pitching line of 5 innings, 7 hits, 6 runs, 5 earned, 1 walk and 3 strikeouts. On his 72nd and final pitch, Tolle threw his fastest offering of the day — a 97.7 mph sinker.  

“He started to feel himself a little bit, which is good, you know?” Tracy said. “There’s going to be bigger challenges here (in Worcester) than in Greenville and definitely bigger challenges than in Portland, and there’ll be bigger challenges in Boston whenever he gets there.  

“So we’ll navigate those. There’s no doubt. But to see him respond in the way he did was the most important thing.” 

Last Sunday, Tolle was told by Double-A Portland manager Chad Epperson that he’d been promoted to Worcester. Tolle thought something may be coming since everyone was being “way too nice” to him that day.  

Three days later, the 6-foot-6, 250-pound pitcher made his way to Worcester for his first day with the WooSox. 

“I was talking to one of my family friends back home, and he’s like ‘You do realize, you did get drafted last year?’ ” Tolle recalled. “I was like ‘Yeah, it’s kind of a whirlwind, I guess, but in the best way possible.’   

“Just couldn’t be more thankful.” 

Top Red Sox pitching prospect Payton Tolle talks about his promotion to Triple-A Worcester and what’s been working well on the mound for the hard-throwing left-hander in his first full season with the Red Sox organization. pic.twitter.com/wlPuzerM7Z

— Tommy Cassell (@tommycassell44) August 6, 2025

Selected by Boston in the second round (No. 50 overall) of the 2024 First-Year Player Draft out of Texas Christian, Tolle began his season with organization in High-A Greenville — going 1-3 with a 3.62 ERA and 79 strikeouts in 11 games (10 starts) for the Drive.   

Following his call up to Double-A Portland on June 24, Tolle posted a 1-1 record with a 1.67 ERA and 37 strikeouts in six games (5 starts) with the Sea Dogs. 

“He’s got a lot of electric stuff,” WooSox pitcher Connelly Early told the T&G earlier this week. “When he’s out on the mound, he’s got that bulldog mentality, which is what you need.” 

With his first start in Triple A now under his belt, Tolle will look to find the same mojo on the mound that earned him the ranking as Boston’s No. 3 prospect overall (by MLB.com) — and fast track to Worcester. 

And like he said before his first Triple-A start, Payton Tolle hopes to find more reasons to smile moving forward. 

“Still smiling,” he said. “Just trying to take what we can from it. Smile because I had fun today, you know? The sucky things happened, but having the same mindset, like, it’s baseball. That’s going to happen … but trying to limit that as much as possible.  

“But I got my first Triple-A start today, and now we hit the ground running.” 

—Contact Tommy Cassell at tcassell@telegram.com. Follow him on X, formerly known as Twitter, @tommycassell44.