Red Sox’s Payton Tolle has ‘velo is king’ admission comes with a twist

As the Boston Red Sox are getting ready in spring training to prepare for the 2026 season, one player that will have a lot of eyes on him is starting pitcher Payton Tolle. With the Red Sox looking to make noise in 2026, Tolle would give insight into what he is working on and what’s at the top of the list.

The 23-year-old would speak to the “Foul Territory” show and was asked how he’s managing to work on the velocity of his fastball and pitches, but also working on the other aspects of pitching. Tolle would admit that “velo is king,” but he is strengthening the other areas of pitching so he isn’t “one-dimensional.”

“Yeah, I mean, I think that velo is king right now, but I think it’s a lot of guys are different,” Tolle said. “For me, the Velo is a thing that I want to continue to work on, continue to build on. But like you’re saying, like, you need to have spin in order to pitch well, you can’t be one-dimensional out there.”

“So, I think it’s good, especially like coming up through the organization of trying to throw harder each and every outing,” Tolle continued. “It was a good mindset change for me, of like going out there and, like you said, PR on every pitch. And so it’s going to help, the velo will help the off-speed to get better. But now it’s like, okay, maintain the velocity and also be able to spin it, get into the zone.”

Payton Tolle acknowledges that "velo is king right now" in regards to getting to the big leagues.

But now his mindset is a big different. "It's maintain velocity and also be able to spin it and get it into the zone." pic.twitter.com/fdj1MbWz7w

— Foul Territory (@FoulTerritoryTV) March 13, 2026

At any rate, Tolle is looking to improve after making his MLB debut in 2025, where he pitched a 6.06 ERA to go along with 19 strikeouts and a 0-1 record in seven games, including three starts. Boston’s first game of the season starts on Thursday, March 26, against the Cincinnati Reds.

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