Texas A&M baseball is expected to be aggressive in the transfer portal this offseason, and head coach Jim Schlossnagle may have just found his primary target.
Kendall Rogers of D1 Baseball shared via Twitter that Wichita State star Payton Tolle has entered the transfer portal. A native of Yukon, Oklahoma, Tolle had been the lone starter to remain with the Shockers following Kevin Saal’s decision not to retain Loren Hibbs.
Tolle was named as a finalist for the John Olerud Two-Way Player of the Year Award after a breakout season as both a designated hitter and a starting pitcher. Tolle went 9-3 on the mound with a 4.62 ERA in 14 starts, leading the AAC in wins and innings.
He had 97 strikeouts in 85.2 innings, striking up double-digit batters in four starts. Offensively, Tolle batted .311 with 13 homers and 50 RBIs. He had 20 multi-hit games and 18 multi-RBI games.
TRANSFER NEWS: This is a big one. @GoShockersBSB two-way superstar Payton Tolle has entered the portal, @d1baseball has learned. Tolle struck out 97 and walked 19, while also hitting .311 with 13 HRs, 50 RBIs this spring. First Team All-AAC. https://t.co/eTepH8FGTd pic.twitter.com/G1LdLrvNFb
— Kendall Rogers (@KendallRogers) June 11, 2023
Following a frustrating finish in the NCAA Regional that saw the Aggies drop two straight to Stanford while being outscored a combined 20-6, it only heightened the need for Texas A&M to be aggressive in the transfer portal.
The Aggies’ season was marred by a handful of players that regressed from the season prior after the Maroon and White advanced to the College World Series in Omaha. Almost every hitter who returned to the team following last season, particularly Austin Bost, Ryan Targac, and Brett Minnich, regressed from a statistical standpoint.
That’s on top of a noticeable step back from the Aggies bullpen, particularly right-handed pitchers such as Chris Cortez and Nathan Dettmer.
Tolle may profile as a southpaw, but his two-way skillset would provide an instant boon to a Texas A&M roster that clearly needs to retool after overachieving in 2022. Those 13 homers from Tolle would pair nicely alongside freshman phenom Jace LaViolette, who led the Aggies with 21 homers himself this season.
A sound path forward would be to build around LaViolette, and bringing Tolle to College Station would give the Maroon and White a promising tandem to make another run for Omaha next season.
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