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‘She was an incredible person’: With late mother as ongoing inspiration, Payton Tolle is finding himself
"She always knew the right things to say."
Three hours before Payton Tolle took the mound Thursday night, his father, Chad Tolle, stood outside the Red Sox dugout and beamed with pride as he reflected on how far his son has come.
“He’s worked really hard all his life at this,” Chad Tolle said. “This is a long way from Oklahoma.”
While watching Payton dominate the Yankees felt surreal, it also yielded a sense of sadness as he wished Payton’s mother, Jina Tolle, could be along for this chapter of the ride.
Jina, who died at age 48 in May 2024 after an eight-year battle with colon cancer, is “the integral part” of Tolle’s ascension in Chad’s eyes. It’s hard for Chad to believe it’s been almost two years, but he knows Jina’s wisdom continues to inspire her sons.
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“She was an incredible person and an incredible motivator to both of our boys, Payton and Charlie,” Chad said. “She always knew the right things to say.”
With honoring his mother as his ongoing purpose, Tolle twirled a gem against the Yankees. Though the Red Sox lost, 4-2, at Fenway Park, Tolle allowed just one run on three hits and struck out 11 in six sharp innings.
The overpowering, 6-foot-6-inch, 23-year-old southpaw became the first Red Sox pitcher to open a game with five strikeouts against the Yankees since Casey Fossum in 2002. He is also the youngest Red Sox pitcher to strike out at least 10 against the Yankees since Red Ruffing in 1928.
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“He was impressive,” said Red Sox manager Alex Cora. “He was under control. The moment wasn’t too big for him. He pounded the strike zone, which is the most important thing.”
Tolle sizzled to start, becoming the first Red Sox starter in the Expansion Era (since 1961) to fan his first five batters faced in a season. The last Boston pitcher to strike out five or more batters to begin any game was Chris Sale in 2019.
While Tolle’s fastball consistently hit 99 miles per hour, blowing pitchers by helpless hitters was nothing new. What was new, however, was his offspeed brilliance and consistency. Tolle mixed and matched to perfection and disguised his pitches well, so a 90-mph cutter and 99-mph fastball came out of his hand in nearly identical fashion.
“He can throw any pitch, any count, right now,” said catcher Carlos Narváez. “That’s a big improvement for him.”
He was perfect through three innings, yet his Houdini act in the fourth inning was perhaps his best work of the evening. After loading the bases with no outs, he responded with a strikeout, fly out, and strikeout to escape unscathed.
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Tolle, who isn’t afraid to play with bravado but has made a conscious effort to dial it back just a bit, let out a booming scream as he strutted off the mound with the swagger that defines his game.
“Last year when he showed emotion, it kind of worked against him,” Cora said. “Now, he shows emotion, apologizes, goes inside, and resets.”
The Yankees’ lone run off Tolle came in the fifth inning on a Jazz Chisholm Jr. solo shot to right, then Tolle responded with a masterful sixth to earn a rowdy ovation from the Fenway faithful.
Tolle noted that rather than just throw the ball, he really pitched Thursday. While he of course would have preferred a team win, he was pleased to give the team a jolt.
“I think about being an energy giver,” Tolle said. “You don’t want to be an energy vampire.”
He inherited that mind-set from Jina, who unabashedly yelled, “You’re so pretty!” at Tolle’s games. The message stuck with him after some initial embarrassment, so he put it on his glove as a way to remind him to play loose and pitch with his mother in mind.
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One time, on a road trip with Texas Christian University, Tolle forgot his clothes. Jina bought some items online at Walmart, and when Tolle went to pick them up, he realized she purchased ridiculous shirts just to mess with him.
One had a picture of cats piled on top of one another that read: “What do you call a pile of cats? A meowtain.” Another read: “Free Hugs.”
The Tolles “don’t necessarily have other hobbies,” so Tolle channeled his grief into improving his craft as a ballplayer.
“There’s ways of dealing with the loss or mourning,” Chad said. “I think both of the boys took baseball as their therapy.”
Tolle puts on a tough exterior in front of the cameras, but he’s goofy and jovial by nature, much like his parents. He’s afraid of frogs, though he played for the Horned Frogs, because of their big and frightening teeth like the Killer Rabbit from Monty Python.
Chad keeps him on his toes and has always wanted to have him sneak a word like alligator into his press conference so he knows his son is thinking of him.
Tolle once devoured a 72-ounce steak at the Big Texan in Amarillo, Texas, in just under an hour. That, Chad said, was his greatest competitive achievement entering Thursday night.
Now, after fanning 11 Yankee hitters, Tolle has a new milestone to add to the list.
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