The Boston Red Sox return home to Fenway Park on Friday to open a three-game series against the Pittsburgh Pirates. These are two organizations who are going in opposite directions, with the Red Sox aiming for a return to the postseason and the Pirates headed for another fifth-place finish in the National League Central.
But Pittsburgh does happen to have one of the best pitchers in baseball on their staff, and he'll be on the mound when the Pirates visit Boston on Friday night. Paul Skenes, the likely winner of this year's NL Cy Young Award, will toe the rubber for the Bucs on Friday night, and it was assumed that he'd be facing off against Dustin May.
May, however, is having his start pushed back until Saturday. According to Red Sox reporter Christopher Smith of Mass Live, May is being moved back by a day and it's likely that left-handed pitching prospect Payton Tolle will be on the mound for his Major League debut on Friday night.
Red Sox just set up incredible opponent for Paul Skenes with latest shuffle
Tolle is the Red Sox's top-ranked pitching prospect, according to MLB Pipeline, and the fans in Boston have been eagerly anticipating his arrival. The southpaw was the Red Sox second-round draft pick just last summer, and after making his professional debut this spring he has soared up through the farm system.
Tolle's only made three starts at Triple-A, but has handled himself quite well. The 6-foot-6 lefty has logged 15 innings with the WooSox and has 17 punchouts to go along with a 3.60 ERA. Collectively this season, Tolle is 3-5 with a 3.04 ERA in 20 appearances in the minor leagues, including 18 starts. The opposition has barely been able to hit above the Mendoza line and he has 133 strikeouts in just over 91 innings of work.
Tolle's seen an increase in velocity since joining the Red Sox and has his heater up to 99 mph. He's still developing his secondary pitches, but most think he could have an above-average slider.
This has the potential to be quite the pitching matchup if both Tolle and Skenes are on the mound this Friday. The Pirates lineup is among the worst in the majors, so if there was ever an opportunity for Tolle to get his feet wet, it'll be this weekend at Fenway. And if there were ever a hopeful comp to go up against, it's Skenes.