Two of Major League Baseball’s top 50 minor-league prospects made their debuts on Friday night and pitched well for their respective teams.
Payton Tolle started for the Boston Red Sox at Fenway Park and was matched up against Pittsburgh Pirates ace Paul Skenes. The left-hander, ranked as Boston’s No. 2 prospect by MLB.com, didn’t back down against the reigning National League Rookie of the Year.
He allowed two runs and three hits over 5 1/3 innings with eight strikeouts. The rookie arguably outpitched Skenes, who allowed one earned run and seven hits in six innings with six strikeouts.
“My goodness. Chills. A lot of chills,” Tolle said afterward, via MLB.com. “I came off the mound after the first [inning] and I couldn’t feel my feet.
“It was the greatest experience of my life,” he continued. “I’ll look back on this day for a long time, just thinking about this moment.”
Unfortunately, Tolle didn’t get the win in his MLB debut due to the Red Sox lineup only scoring two runs. Boston took an early 2-0 lead, highlighted by a home run from Roman Anthony. But after Tolle gave up consecutive singles to Nick Gonzales and Bryan Reynolds, he was pulled from the game.
Greg Weissert came in and left a sinker in the middle of the strike zone that Tommy Pham hit for a 2-run double. Andrew McCutchen followed by reaching low to hit another sinker for an RBI double that gave the Pirates a 3-2 lead. Pittsburgh added its fourth run when Ronny Simon scored on a sacrifice bunt by Henry Davis. Simon was initially called out at home, but the call was overturned on replay.
In the minors, Tolle registered a 3.44 ERA with 133 strikeouts in 91 2/3 innings, progressing from high Single-A to Triple-A this season.
Jonah Tong allows one run in Mets’ win over Marlins
At Citi Field, Jonah Tong received the run support Tolle lacked in his debut. The Mets’ No. 4 prospect benefited from his lineup exploding for a 12-0 lead in the second inning. Juan Soto and Brandon Nimmo hit first-inning home runs off Marlins starter Eury Pérez, who didn’t make it out of the inning after allowing five runs on three hits and two walks.
Reliever Tyler Zuber was even worse in the second, allowing seven consecutive runners to reach base after getting the first two hitters of the inning out. The hit parade included a two-run shot from Pete Alonso, followed by an RBI single by Starling Marte and a two-run double from Tyrone Taylor.
Valente Bellozo took over for Zuber but couldn’t stop the bleeding, walking Luis Torrens before serving up a two-run double to Francisco Lindor.
With that kind of run support, Tong didn’t necessarily have to pitch well. But he did anyway, allowing one earned run and six hits over six innings. He threw 97 pitches, 63 for strikes and notched six strikeouts.
The right-hander encountered trouble in the fifth inning, giving up consecutive singles to begin the frame in addition to throwing a wild pitch. Lindor didn’t help Tong out by missing a catch for an error. That led to four runs scoring before Tong got out of the inning by striking out Liam Hicks.
“That’s everything I ever dreamed of as a kid growing up,” Tong said, via MLB.com. “To see it unfold like that, it’s insane. That’s the only word that can really describe it.”
Prior to his call-up, Tong compiled a 1.43 ERA pitching in Double-A Binghamton and Triple-A Syracuse this season, striking out an average of 14.2 batters per nine innings.
Tong joined Dwight Gooden as the second Mets rookie pitcher 22 years old or younger to go five innings or more while allowing one earned run or fewer. Mets fans couldn’t ask for much more than Tong pitching himself into the same sentence with a team legend like Gooden.
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