FORT MYERS, Fla. – As Red Sox top pitching prospect Payton Tolle works on expanding his arsenal, expect to see some new and improved pitches. The left-hander, now 23, arrived in the majors last Aug. 29 armed with a formidable four-seam fastball, but manager Alex Cora and chief baseball officer Craig Breslow have since admitted that roster needs forced them to rush Tolle and fellow lefty top prospect Connelly Early up to the majors. Tolle impressed in his debut, 5 ⅓ innings of two-run ball in which he allowed three hits, walked two and struck out eight, but he struggled in his subsequent two starts before the Red Sox moved him to the bullpen. He finished the regular season with 11 earned runs (12 total) on 18 hits in 16 ⅓ innings between three starts and four relief outings. (He also pitched a scoreless third of the eighth inning in Game 2 of the Wild Card series.) According to Baseball Savant, Tolle led overwhelmingly with his four-seam: 195 four-seamers, or 64.1% of his total pitch mix, a cutter (13.5%), slider (9.5%), changeup (6.9%) and curveball (5.9%). The Red Sox want the southpaw to hone his secondary pitches so they may better complement the fastball. “The other day he threw the ball well, threw a lot of strikes, which is the key right now,” Cora said Wednesday. “We just want them to pound the strike zone, and he did that. “His secondary stuff was good. Just gotta keep getting better, right?…
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