Red Sox Select Payton Tolle, LHP, TCU (2024)

One of college baseball's best two-way players in two seasons at Wichita State, Tolle transferred to Texas Christian for 2024. While his large frame and well-above-average raw power brought to mind former Horned Frogs slugger/lefty pitcher Luken Baker, Tolle surprisingly struggled at the plate and focused more on pitching this spring. Relying primarily on his fastball, he won Big 12 Conference Pitcher of the Year honors while striking out 105 in 69 innings and working his way into the top three rounds.

Tolle uses his 6-foot-6 frame to create more extension (an average of 7 feet, 4 inches) in his delivery than most pitchers in this Draft. That enables his 90-92 mph fastball to play much better than its below-average velocity, and he shows the ability to run it in on lefties or bore it in on righties. His heater tops out at 96 and he uses it nearly three-quarters of the time, complementing it with an average sweeping slider that hovers around 80 mph.

Tolle barely employs his low-80s changeup with mild fade. He's a below-average athlete with average control at best, yet college hitters can't touch his heater. He's a polarizing prospect whose proponents extol his fastball metrics while others see him as more of a multi-inning reliever than a starter.