Red Sox's Pitching Coach Explains 'Key' To Success For Payton Tolle

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The Boston Red Sox have relied on Payton Tolle to make some key starts this season, despite him not making the team out of spring training.

Tolle lost the fifth starter spot to Connelly Early, and he went to Triple-A with the right attitude to work on certain things to get better. Now that Tolle is back in the majors, he’s been solid for the Red Sox, and pitching coach Andrew Bailey believes the left-hander has to be aggressive to have success.

"I think the command of those pitches took a step forward,” Bailey said about Tolle’s off-speed pitches. “But to me, the key for a pitcher like Tolle is just to be on the attack non-stop with your best weapons, and those are generally going to be his four-seamer and sinker, and we know he can use the other stuff as needed.”

Tolle, meanwhile, believes he’s just a more complete pitcher this season, and it’s been showing in his starts.

“It made me feel like more of a complete pitcher than I was last year, when I was just trying to throw the ball by guys every time,” Tolle said. “That doesn't work. I was just able to pitch a little bit more, instead of just throw.”

Tolle is 2-2 with a 2.05 ERA in five starts this season as the left-hander looks to not only be a key part of the rotation in the future, but also the present.

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