{
  "id": 1924053,
  "title": "How Red Sox pitcher Payton Tolle became an ace",
  "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/08/19/how-red-sox-pitcher-payton-tolle-became-an-ace",
  "topic": "culture",
  "section": "Culture",
  "published": "2026-08-19T11:33:20.000Z",
  "source": {
    "name": "Yahoo Sports",
    "slug": "yahoo-sports",
    "url": "https://sports.yahoo.com/articles/red-sox-pitcher-payton-tolle-113320630.html"
  },
  "original_language": "en",
  "account": "Boston Red Sox pitcher Payton Tolle has quickly become an ace on the team. During his season debut against the New York Yankees, Tolle threw a first changeup of the game to Giancarlo Stanton with the bases loaded, striking him out. His ability to throw a first changeup of the day highlighted his confidence and pitching talent. Throughout the season, Tolle has maintained an impressive 2.97 ERA and is ranked 15th in K-BB% among pitchers with at least 100 innings pitched. His sinker has become a crucial part of his arsenal, leading to a high strike rate, a low ideal contact rate, and a significant number of groundballs. Tolle's four-seam fastball and sinker have helped him mitigate hitter's ability to square up the ball, resulting in a high number of strikeouts. Furthermore, his cutter has proven to be an effective pitch, particularly against right-handed batters, as it can be used to steal called strikes or be located at the top of the zone to induce whiffs. Tolle's overall pitch selection, including his curveball, has also contributed to his success as a pitcher.",
  "summary": "In Payton Tolle’s season debut against the New York Yankees, he threw a 2-2 changeup to Giancarlo Stanton with the bases loaded. It was the first changeup he threw all season, and Stanton, like everybody else, never saw it coming and whiffed for the first out of the inning. In the moment, I was impressed […]",
  "key_points": [
    "Payton Tolle made first changeup of game against Yankees to strike out Stanton",
    "Maintained 2.97 ERA, ranked 15th in K-BB% among pitchers with 100+ innings",
    "Sinker and cutter have been key pitches in high strike rate and strikeouts"
  ],
  "editors_take": null,
  "illustration": null,
  "coverage": {
    "outlets": 1,
    "also_reported_by": []
  },
  "ai_generated": true,
  "disclaimer": "Summaries, key points and the editor’s take are written by software from other outlets’ reporting and may contain errors — always check the linked original."
}