James Paxton

New York Yankees Might Have Landed Themselves A True Ace

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New York Yankees, James Paxton

I could see how the title of this article might indicate the signing of Gio Gonzalez as a significant one, but don’t be alarmed, the veteran pitcher is nowhere near close to ‘ace’ status and I would commit myself to an insane asylum if I thought so. Nonetheless, the New York Yankees have enjoyed a spring full of injury and concern in regard to the starting pitching rotation.

Forget Gonzalez, James Paxton is the player we need to be talking about. Acquired from the Seattle Mariners in a trade that sent top pitching prospect Justus Sheffield packing, the seasoned veteran has the tools to help the Yankees win in the short-term.

General manager Brian Cashman allocated resources appropriately to make a serious World Series run this year, but injuries to Luis Severino, CC Sabathia, and Aaron Hicks have dampened the mood. Luckily, the Bombers will start off the season with relatively easy opponents, ensuring the loss of the mentioned players won’t cause too much harm.

The Yankees need a spark in the rotation:

Despite the negatives, one major positive this spring has been Paxton – earning a 1.54 ERA over 11.2 innings pitched. He’s given up just five hits and one homer. An impressive out of dominance for the once oft-injured pitcher.

Paxton has been healthy the past two seasons, proving that the beginning of his career was just a minor speed-bump in relation to injury concerns. This spring, he has looked sharp, but these stats need to be taken with a grain of salt. Grapefruit League games don’t often feature entire starting teams, so the numbers can be skewed in favor of the regular starters.

However, his performance has provided optimism for 2019, especially with Severino and Sabathia missing the first few weeks. While the former Mariner won’t be the Opening Day starter, that job is filled by Masahiro Tanaka, he has arguably the second-best skill-set behind Severino. The Yankees will be forced to lean on him early on as they wait for their rotation to return to full capabilities.

The New York Yankees need to manage Paxton’s workload:

With the Canadian pitcher earning more reps due to injuries, the Yanks will need to manage his workload once the affected players return. Allowing him to fatigue too early in the season could be detrimental down the stretch.

 

New York Yankees: James Paxton First Starter to Feature in Spring Training

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Game three of the Yankees 2019 Grapefruit League season happens today and features James Paxton on the mound – Yankees fans first look at the Big Maple in pinstripes.  The game will start at 1:05 on YES from George M. Steinbrenner field.

The Yankees throw out this lineup against the Blue Jays and RHP Marcus Stroman:

The 30 year old left-hander went 11-6 with a 3.76 ERA for the Mariners last season, striking out 208 in only 160.1 innings.  While he had some injury issues in ’18:

“Mel Stottlemyre Jr., Paxton’s pitching coach for the past three seasons, notes that some of the injuries — a bruised left forearm thanks to a comebacker last August, for example — were simply out of the pitcher’s control. Others were the result of Paxton pushing too hard. “He’s a tireless, relentless worker,” says Stottlemyre. “We had to tame it. If he didn’t throw 45 to 50 pitches on the side at 90- to 100-per cent effort level, in his mind, he didn’t feel like he prepared himself.”

Paxton is healthy this spring and fans are eager to see the results of his relentless preparation.

What to expect?  The 6’4, 235 pound southpaw throws his mid-90s four-seamer roughly 60% of the time and his 88-90 mph cutter around 20% of the time, along with a long 80s curveball.  He throws fastballs 80% of the time, which BrooksBaseball.com describes as “blazing fast.”  

Mike Axisa of riveraveblues.com writes that Paxton is second only to Lance Lynn in fastball usage in the league and he generates a high number of swings and misses in the zone.  Unfortunately, his home run totals are high as he generates a high number of fly balls as well.  Fans will be eager to see how this plays out in Yankee Stadium.

Paxton’s comparables, according to Baseball Reference.com are players such as Corey Kluber, J.A. Happ and Luis Severino – all hard throwers who rely primarily on their fastballs.

Rotographs released their Top 100 Pitchers for 2019 and this is how the Yankee pitchers fared: Paxton #19, Luis Severino #12, J.A. Happ #32, Masahiro Tanaka #33 and CC Sabathia #74.

I love this rotation with it’s mix of styles and talents, it’s going to be exciting to see their success as a unit and to see how Paxton fares in the midst of it.

Paxton will share his debut with Tulowitzki, who missed the entire 2018 season for the Blue Jays.  Paxton and Tulowitzki are two important players in the Yankees plans this season for attaining #28.