James Paxton Could Be The Key To The Mariners Playoff Hopes

Though James Paxton has proven he is a viable major league starter, he is yet to reach his full potential due to absences that have become an unavoidable part of his career. This year, his health could play a huge role in whether or not the Mariners play ball in late October.

Ever since James Paxton was drafted by the Mariners back in 2008, there have been high expectations for the pitcher’s career.

Danny Hultzen, Taijuan Walker, and Paxton were thought by many to be the future of the M’s starting rotation as they made their way up the ladder in the minor leagues. With Walker traded and Hultzen a current free agent, Paxton is the only one left in the Mariners organization.

This season, Jerry Dipoto has pieced together a lineup featuring new faces like Jean Segura, Dan Vogelbach, and rookie Mitch Haniger.

There is little doubt that hitting will be the Mariners strong suit again this year; something that would’ve been unthinkable only a couple years ago. However, pitching is a big question mark heading into this year. With Felix Hernandez getting older and new additions to the bullpen and rotation, there isn’t as much certainty as there has been in the past.

However, pitching is a big question mark heading into this highly anticipated season. Felix Hernandez is getting older and new additions added to the bullpen and rotation, there isn’t as much certainty as there has been in the past.

Someone is going to have to surprise some people for the Mariners to find themselves in the postseason. Perhaps the best candidate to lead the M’s to the promise land is Paxton.

Last year, he easily had the best campaign of his career so far. Despite a stint on the disabled list and an injury that kept him out the first part of the season, Paxton started a career-high 20 games and went 6-7 with an ERA of 3.79.

In addition, there were some clear improvements to his stats from years past. One example of this was his strikeout-to-walk ratio, which jumped from 1.96 in 2015 to 4.88 in 2016.

While Paxton’s statistics improved, he also had several flashes of dominance last season. In his August 7th outing to close out Griffey Weekend against the Los Angeles Angels, he gave up no earned runs on five hits in 8.1 innings.

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On July 22nd in Toronto, he gave up one earned run on three hits in seven innings in the 2-1 win versus the Blue Jays. Not all of his great performances came in wins, though; twice he gave up only one earned run and still took the loss.

There is no question at this point that Paxton can be a great asset to the Mariners’ rotation. The biggest issue now is that he needs to stay healthy.

While the improvements that he has made are great, he can only be the difference maker that the Mariners need this season if he is actually on the hill every five days. Since his major league debut, Paxton has been on the disabled list four times in four seasons.

The Mariners are certainly going to want to keep him completely off the DL for the first time since 2013 in order to allow him to find his groove in the rotation. This could result in an extra couple of wins, which is huge for a team that has missed the playoffs by three games or less twice in three years.

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If Paxton can continue his development and not get hurt, it could be the difference that pushes the Mariners to their first postseason berth in 16 years.