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The Mariners’ 2021 offseason was by no means a slam-dunk, but it certainly improved a lot today when the signing of James Paxton became official, as the age-old tradition of a press conference points out. which unwinds just under the spring drive gun. A bearded Paxton brought back all the good old feelings – the least of which for me, personally, is remembering the pleasure of transcribing Pax’s well-spoken interviews – while also presenting an older and wiser self hardened in the crucible of the playoffs and the New York media landscape. For Paxton, returning home to Seattle was an obvious choice for a player looking to pull himself together:
“There were a lot of teams interested in signing me this offseason. It boiled down to this … I really thought about it, and thought coming back to Seattle was the best long term decision for me, and I’m looking forward to my career and what I want to do, I want to be myself again this year. I really struggled last year coming back from back surgery. I’m comfortable here in Seattle, love the band here and thrilled to be a part of it.
Regarding that back surgery, a quick reminder: Pax’s back apparently started bothering him towards the end of the 2019 season, but he was able to get through the pain – including a dominant start in a must-see Match 5 against the Astros in the ALCS Playoffs – thanks to cortisone shots and Canadian Grit. In the off-season, he underwent surgery to remove a peridiscal cyst, an “extremely rare” condition that is treated with microdiscectomy, or surgery to remove the affected part of the disc. While the condition is rare, microdiscectomies are not, at least among MLB players – our own Mitch Haniger had one to help with his back problems. What they are, however, is a slow recovery, and after having surgery in February 2020, Paxton was likely rushed back to competition before his body was fully healed (again, see Haniger-comma-Mitch ). This led, according to Paxton, to deterioration of his mechanics, which in turn resulted in an injury to his arm:
“It was hard. Coming into summer camp last year I thought everything was fine, but thinking about it now and looking at my mechanics my back leg just wasn’t taking off the rubber very well, and it made my arm slip behind. me, and everything was just going slowly because of that. It actually put my arm in a dangerous position, and that’s what I think caused the injury to my flexor, it was just that my mechanics were off and my strength wasn’t returning to 100%.
Watching Paxton’s last start for the Yankees on August 20, when he went through five innings, dropping three runs with four steps (but still hitting eight!), You can see how little bite he had on his. curve and how much the trim was missing. His fast ball speed was also down by several ticks, trailing in the low 90s. The arm drag he talks about in this quote is especially evident here, on a walk to Mike Zunino (!).
Paxton spent his free agency time working in Seattle, focusing on gaining strength, and also working on recovering his mechanics. He says he’s got back to ‘100%’ and has been on the right track with speed in his bullpens, working through to the lows of the ’90s, where he’s usually at this offseason stage. .
And with his focus on building health and proving the rest of the league that he’s healthy and deserves a big contract, Paxton could be one of the few veteran pitchers on staff to look forward to. the rotation of six players. He certainly had a … more diplomatic response, when asked about it:
“I understand the goal, absolutely … I think with the lack of innings the guys got last year, keeping people healthy throughout the season with the six-man is probably a good idea. Personally, I would always like to get there, at least 170 innings, I want to stay healthy and try to reach that mark, but I think it will be possible in a six-way rotation. But the goal is to stay healthy throughout the season, and if we make an effort for the postseason, I believe Jerry said we would go with the top five guys to do that push.
A seasoned playoff pitcher is also a different James Paxton than the Pax 1.0 version that Mariners fans knew. And Pax hasn’t experienced the playoffs anywhere; it was in the New York media landscape, a less forgiving climate than the arctic tundra. But it’s also something he thinks he can bring back to a team where he will be the seasoned veteran, not the aspiring superstar. “It was a great experience for me, and something I can share with the guys here. This pressure. Extra pressure in New York, to have that experience, to be able to talk about it with guys here, prepare and tell them the things that I learned from that experience, I think that will be very beneficial to us as a group. Paxton also cited his Yankee teammates, particularly CC Sabathia and Masahiro Tanaka, as people who helped him adjust to the high expectations of an AL East playoff run. Now he will be the veteran bringing his experience to a younger locker room, including the players he was traded for in Justus Sheffield and Erik Swanson.
Helping shape Seattle’s future squad seems like something Paxton is passionate about, but former farmer Jack Z admits he has something to learn from the new crew as well:
“I love working with young people, I love helping them, telling them what I know. I love to learn from them. A lot of these guys coming in now have a lot of knowledge on the analytical side of the game because they came out around that time, and I can learn from them, and I can also teach them about the big leagues and things that I do. learned along the way. This is something that I really enjoy so I really look forward to working with all the young people here.
James Paxton-Logan Gilbert Best Friendship Confirmed? James Paxton-Logan Gilbert Best Friendship Confirmed.
In fact, even though fans have seen the Mariners ‘PR machine run in overdrive (hashtag Sea Us Rise), and seen updated farm rankings coming out with the Mariners’ organization climbing higher and higher, There’s no approval that seems to ring as much as Paxton’s Warmth here, the equivalent of bringing your cool older brother home from college and wondering if you’ve been exercising:
“When I look around the clubhouse here… there is a lot of talent. Lots of young guys, lots of good guys, I think there is huge potential here with this team. And over the next few years – and even this year we might surprise some people – but especially over the next few years, this team will be in a good position to compete and then qualify for the playoffs and see where that goes there. But I really think this team is evolving.
We wish Pax a healthy and happy season, and that he can help lead this team to the places we all want them to go.
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