Red Sox 22-Year-Old Achieves Major Milestone En Route To Boston Debut

The Boston Red Sox's farm system is becoming a true talent factory.

For the last few seasons, the Red Sox have been gaining notoriety for their impressive position player prospects. You know the names by now--Roman Anthony, Marcelo Mayer, and Kristian Campbell (among less heralded prospects who panned out, like Jarren Duran and Wilyer Abreu).

Now, the pitching may be having its turn.

The Red Sox went pitching heavy in the Major League Baseball Draft this week, with the current focus on finding a young number-two starter to work behind ace Garrett Crochet. Or perhaps a number three, because it seems as though the future number-two is revealing himself.

Twenty-two-year-old left-hander Payton Tolle is having a phenomenal season, and making a name for himself in the process. That trend continued on Friday night, as Tolle was officially added to MLB Pipeline's Top 100 overall prospects list.

Tolle took the place of Kansas City Royals rookie slugger Jac Caglianone. He joins Anthony (No. 1), shortstop Franklin Arias (No. 37), and outfielder Jhostynxon Garcia (No. 97) as the four Red Sox on the current Top 100 list.

The 6-foot-6 southpaw gets incredible extension down the hill (roughly 7-foot-4 worth) and has been striking out the world this season, with 101 punchouts and a 3.25 ERA in 63 innings (split between High-A and Double-A).

Here's what MLB Pipeline's player profile has to say about Tolle's future outlook:

"Tolle was a polarizing prospect in the Draft, with some scouts wowed by his fastball metrics and others seeing him as more of multi-inning reliever with just one weapon. To enhance his chances of making it as a starter, Boston has had him dial back his fastball usage (75 percent last spring) and work on improving his average mid-80s sweeping slider and fringy upper-80s changeup, both of which have added power as well. He's pounding the strike zone and has a bulldog mentality, two more reasons the Red Sox think he can become a frontline starter."

The secondary pitches are improving, and they'll only continue to get better. But Tolle's fastball is a legitimate superpower, and as this milestone shows, it's a superpower that's going to make him a force in the big leagues at some point within the next calendar year.