Red Sox top pitching prospect throws ‘unicorn fastball,’ teammates say

FORT MYERS, Fla. – As Red Sox top pitching prospect Payton Tolle works on expanding his arsenal, expect to see some new and improved pitches.

The left-hander, now 23, arrived in the majors last Aug. 29 armed with a formidable four-seam fastball, but manager Alex Cora and chief baseball officer Craig Breslow have since admitted that roster needs forced them to rush Tolle and fellow lefty top prospect Connelly Early up to the majors.

Tolle impressed in his debut, 5 ⅓ innings of two-run ball in which he allowed three hits, walked two and struck out eight, but he struggled in his subsequent two starts before the Red Sox moved him to the bullpen. He finished the regular season with 11 earned runs (12 total) on 18 hits in 16 ⅓ innings between three starts and four relief outings. (He also pitched a scoreless third of the eighth inning in Game 2 of the Wild Card series.)

According to Baseball Savant, Tolle led overwhelmingly with his four-seam: 195 four-seamers, or 64.1% of his total pitch mix, a cutter (13.5%), slider (9.5%), changeup (6.9%) and curveball (5.9%). The Red Sox want the southpaw to hone his secondary pitches so they may better complement the fastball.

“The other day he threw the ball well, threw a lot of strikes, which is the key right now,” manager Alex Cora said Wednesday. “We just want them to pound the strike zone, and he did that.

“His secondary stuff was good. Just gotta keep getting better, right? We know the fastball is gonna play, the extension is gonna play. How we get to 102 and then bury people, that’s the next thing we have to solve.”

Tolle knows one thing that isn’t the solution: Garrett Whitlock’s changeup.

Though not for a lack of trying. If he could replicate one skill of a teammate’s, it would be that.

“Some of the swings that I’ve seen on Garrett Whitlock’s changeup have been pretty wicked,” Tolle told the Herald. “I tried to throw it at one point, and it was just not – it’s one of a kind. One of a kind.”

Whitlock’s changeup grip is “a whole lot different than anybody else’s,” Tolle explained. “To have his extension mixed with how much vert he kills, A, and B, I mean that thing runs more than a lot of – nobody else has a pitch that runs quite like his does.

“You could put a compilation of Whitlock changeup swings and it’s some of the more ugly swings you’ll see.”

Whitlock threw 246 changeups last season. Opponents managed 16 hits, one double, and one home run off it and struck out 11 times.

Understandably, Tolle had to try it out for himself. Whitlock cautioned it would be an adjustment. It wasn’t even that.

“He was like, ‘Just give it a couple days, because you need to get used to it,’ and I gave it a couple days and I was like, ‘Yeah this sounds like a one-of-one kind of deal,’ “ Tolle recalled with a chuckle. “To say I failed miserably might be an understatement.”

Tolle threw 21 changeups across three plate appearances. Opponents went 2 for 3 with a single, double and strikeout.

Even more in awe of Whitlock’s changeup, he returned with a progress report.

“I told him, ‘Nobody is else gonna be able – if somebody else could throw that changeup, good for them, but not me,’ “ Tolle said.

The ever-modest Whitlock appreciates his teammate’s praise but respectfully disagrees. After all, he had help honing his changeup from Matt Andriese, who was a veteran arm in the Boston bullpen during Whitlock’s rookie season.

“He’s someone I would definitely say I leaned on heavily,” Whitlock told the Herald, “and really, really tried to model my pitch after.”

“To me, it’s just my changeup, I’m not gonna sit here and say it’s one-of-one,” Whitlock said. “I feel like there’s plenty of guys around the league with better changeups, but it’s a pitch I like to throw, it’s a pitch I have confidence in, and it’s kind of how I’ve attacked and gone about it.”

“There’s plenty of guys with fantastic changeups, I feel bad that I’m probably missing some people,” Whitlock continued, naming Devin Williams (Mets), Logan Webb (Giants), Pablo Lopez (Twins) and 2025 Red Sox teammate Lucas Giolito. “It’s just one of those things where it’s all about what your arsenal is, does it play well with your arsenal, and that’s how I go about it. And my changeup plays well with my arsenal, and (I) go from there.”

Only five seasons after his big-league debut in 2021, Whitlock is the longest-tenured Red Sox pitcher on the 40-man roster. He’s become a leader in the clubhouse and organization in several ways, including serving as the team’s player representative to the MLBPA, and Jimmy Fund captain.

So when younger teammates, or any teammate, comes to him for advice about pitching, Whitlock tailors it to the man.

“The way I always viewed pitching is, I want to make them the best them they can be,” he said. “That’s the biggest thing: identify what makes them an outlier, what makes them so good, and just try and help them exploit that and sharpen the other things as best we can.”

For Tolle, that means all roads lead to the four-seamer. Whitlock hasn’t thrown one in a big-league game since 2023, but he knows for Tolle, it’s the nucleus.

“We know Tolle’s got a unicorn fastball,” Whitlock said. “The biggest thing is exploiting that and making sure that every other pitch tunnels off that. And that’s how he’s going to fool hitters. They have to respect that fastball, and so the longer he can make every other pitch look like a fastball, the better for him.

“You have to respect it, you have to be sitting on it. So that’s how he’s going to absolutely make a huge jump.”