As Red Sox trade rumors swirl, a top prospect is bulking up; another is working on his changeup
Red Sox' Payton Tolle throws during the first inning against the Pirates on Aug. 29, 2025, in Boston. (AP Photo/Mark Stockwell)AP
The Red Sox have several areas they need to address this offseason.
They must add at least one power hitter. They are open to acquiring another starting pitcher after dealing for Sonny Gray. Every infield position, except for shortstop with Trevor Story returning, remains an uncertainty right now. Boston also could look to add an arm or two to the bullpen.
Free agency is one route to address the needs. Trading top prospects is another avenue.
Pitchers Payton Tolle and Connelly Early, who Baseball America ranks Boston’s Nos. 1 and 3 prospects respectively, have both been mentioned in trade rumors this offseason and dating back to the July 31 trade deadline. But they have done their best to avoid trade speculation.
“I’ve kind of tried to separate myself from social media a little bit,” Tolle said Tuesday while he and other Red Sox teammates volunteered at the Wonderfund warehouse, loading thousands of gift donations into cars. “I’ll hop on every now and then just to maybe try to see the latest news.”
Tolle said he understands baseball is a business and trades are “part of it” while Early provided a similar perspective.
“I don’t pay attention to too much of it,” said Early, who also was here volunteering. “The Red Sox are a big market team, so obviously we’re trying to get some guys here or there. Who knows who it’s going to be?”
While trade rumors persist, Tolle and Early are focused on getting better to help the 2026 Red Sox.
Tolle is working on refining his secondary pitches, especially his changeup. Early, meanwhile, is focused on bulking up and increasing average fastball velocity.
Tolle focusing on changeup
The Red Sox had Tolle focus mostly on building strength and increasing fastball velocity last offseason. The focus this offseason has turned to his secondary pitches, although there’s not one secondary they want him to prioritize over the others.
“Some of it will require the feedback from him about subjectively his comfort levels and his ability to execute and command those pitches,” chief baseball officer Craig Breslow said.
The changeup is a pitch Tolle thinks can emerge ahead of the others.
“My mind kind of goes to the changeup,” Tolle said. “I think it’s a great weapon. I think you see a lot of guys with great changeups, just great soft stuff in general. And those guys are executing it well ... So I think the changeup is kind of something that I’ve maybe put more thought into.”
The pitch played well across the majors in 2025. Pitchers combined to throw 73,099 changeups, producing a 31.0% whiff percentage and holding opponents to a .229 batting average compared to the league average of a 24.6% whiff percentage and .247 batting average on all other types of pitches combined.
“The cutter and the curveball as well, like just trying to refine those pitches,” Tolle said. “And the biggest word that I’ve used almost all offseason is just feel. I just need to get reps with them. But I think the changeup is going to be good. I think it’s going to play probably the best out of all the pitches off the fastball.”
Tolle threw his fastball 64.1% of the time during his seven regular-season outings for Boston in 2025. The pitch averaged 96.6 mph, which was in the 85th percentile among major league pitchers. He ranked in the 99th percentile in extension (7.5), making the heater look even harder.
But he needs to mix in his secondary pitches more often to be more effective and to make the fastball play even better. The Red Sox also want him to throw his fastball more often at the top of the zone and above the zone for chase.
“I think in today’s baseball, velo is king,” Tolle said. “You work on your velo, everything else kind of raises the floor. It’s not just for the fastball. I think it’s kind of like we have a base now of what we have worked on in the past with strength and velo and now it’s, ‘How are we going to use that velo on the fastball and then work different pitches off it?’”
Early gaining weight, velo
Early, who started Game 3 of the AL Wild Card series, laughed about his dad and him being on completely opposite diets this offseason.
“My dad is trying to stay as healthy as possible obviously, and definitely eating smaller portions, eating a lot of salads, chicken and rice, small portions and stuff,” Early said. “So it’s fun to be at home and have him doing that stuff and then me trying to put on weight and eat bigger portions.”
Early already has added 10-12 pounds this offseason after working with nutritionists to put together a new meal plan.
“It’s just larger portions for meals and then trying to get a fourth meal in there every day,” Early said.
Early has some trouble keeping on weight during the season and so bulking up during the offseason is essential.
“If I’m throwing (starting) that day, it’s a little bit more difficult for me to eat just with a little bit of the nerves,” Early said about the regular season. “Just really dedicated a lot of time into focusing on that and trying to build my body as best as possible for the season.”
Early’s plus fastball plays up in part because he mixes in so many plus secondary pitches. He also gets above-average extension and commands it well. Opponents went just 3-for-17 with three singles against his four-seamer in his limited major league sample at the end of 2025.
The pitch averaged 94.0 mph — and he wants to see that increase in 2026.
“I wouldn’t say it’s necessarily gaining too much velocity. It’s more of like raising the floor of my velocity,” Early said. “So if I can just sit at a little bit higher number, it should help everything perform a little bit better. Just in general, if you look at the statistics behind adding velocity to fastballs and stuff, the performance is a little bit better. Taking a big step in my career has been able to add a little bit of velo and if we can just keep seeing that trend up just naturally, it’ll be really nice.”
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