Mariners Analysis: Who’s Hot and Who’s Not

May 23, 2015; Toronto, Ontario, CAN; Seattle Mariners starting pitcher James Paxton (65) delivers a pitch against Toronto Blue Jays at Rogers Centre. Mandatory Credit: Dan Hamilton-USA TODAY Sports

Stock Down: James Paxton

Well, sometimes you just can’t catch a break and it seems to be one of those years for the Mariners. First, Hisashi Iwakuma going down was a blow to this starting rotation, but I would argue that losing Paxton to the DL is a bigger blow. Paxton stock was rising after last week, he had two dominant outings, one against the Red Sox where he went eight innings while giving up no runs and allowing just five hits. Then he went back to his homeland of Canada, and pitched six solid innings against the Toronto Blue Jays.

Pax looked to continue his hot streak against the Cleveland Indians this week, but was only able to pitch 4 2/3 innings before going down with a finger injury that has landed him on the 15 day DL. In that start, he didn’t pitch great either as he gave up four runs, three earned, and eight hits. But, like I said earlier, I think this is a bigger blow to the Mariners than when they lost Iwakuma because of the timing.

Their pitching rotation is already stretched thin, and when Paxton was just starting to heat up, they have to put him on the shelf and let him recover. This was a huge blow to the Mariners, and hopefully Paxton can recover quickly and get back to the M’s shortly.

Next: Logan Morrison