Red Sox Breakout Star Facing Deadline For MLB Promotion

The Boston Red Sox reportedly are promoting No. 3 prospect Payton Tolle to the Triple-A Worcester Red Sox.

Beyond The Monster's Andrew Parker reported the news on Sunday.

"The Red Sox are promoting top pitching prospect Payton Tolle to Triple-A Worcester, I’m told," Parker said

Tolle is the is the Red Sox’s top-ranked pitching prospect and has been lights-out this season. In 17 total appearances, including 15 starts, Tolle has pitched to a 2.93 ERA and 116-to-21 strikeout-to-walk ratio in just 76 2/3 innings pitched. He's had a meteoric rise through the farm system and has had stops with the High-A Greenville Drive, Double-A Portland Sea Dogs, and now is going to Worcester.

In the immediate aftermath of the reported promotion to Triple-A, a popular talking point on social media was how long it could be until Boston brings him up to the big leagues. The reason for this topic is because there's been some questions about potential playoff bullpen depth. The Red Sox acquired Steven Matz and Jordan Hicks this season, but some have wondered if Tolle could be an option as well. MLB.com currently is projecting Tolle to make his big league debut next year, but still, the chatter is out there.

If the Red Sox do promote Tolle to the big leagues this season and specifically want him to pitch in the playoffs — if the Red Sox earn a spot — the latest they could promote him and have him be eligible for postseason play is 11:59 p.m. ET on Aug. 31, per MLB rules.

"In a typical season, any player who is on the 40-man roster or 60-day injured list as of 11:59 p.m. ET on Aug. 31 is eligible for the postseason," MLB says on the league website. "Those on the restricted list at that point are also eligible if they haven't been suspended for performance-enhancing drugs during that season. (All players who have served a suspension for PEDs in a given season are ineligible for postseason play that year.)

"A player who doesn't meet said criteria for postseason eligibility can still be added to a team's roster in the postseason via petition to the Commissioner's Office if the player was in the organization on Aug. 31 and is replacing someone who is on the injured list and has served the minimum amount of time required for activation."