James Paxton & Co: 2017 Seattle Mariners

There’s an interesting question to be asked about when James Paxton broke out. Is he breaking out now? Did he break out in last year’s second half? Did he break out the instant he started throwing harder, with a greater number of strikes? Yet the answer isn’t actually that important, because what matters is that a breakout has taken place. What I loved the very most about prime Cliff Lee was how he threw strike after strike almost without even thinking. Lee would throw a great pitch, get the ball, and almost immediately get to work throwing another great pitch. Paxton shouldn’t yet be considered on the Cliff Lee level, but the strikes and the tempo are there. Strikes, whiffs, and speed. With James Paxton these days, there isn’t any messing around, and hitters can be up against it before they know what’s happened.

http://www.fangraphs.com/blogs/james-paxton-the-everything-doer/

i am enjoying the fuck out of Haniger right now (and also my Canadian brethren, Paxton – 21 shutout innings to start the season).

can't believe paxton is 28, feels like he was still considered a hot prospect 2 years ago

Well today wasn't good.

Won two in a row on the road after losing their best player (not that Haniger was supposed to be this good but still). I know that's not super impressive but it's the Mariners.

Obv I'm overly fatalistic but I'm kind of concerned that Felix will never come back from whatever injury he has and will therefore never pitch in a playoff game.

So 4/5 starts Paxton hasn't given up a run!

ugh paxton to DL with 'forearm strain'

sorry for thread title jinx

outscored 41-5 in last 5 gms

zunino's last 6 games - 11/24 5 hr 13 rbi

(previous 41 games - 28/128 4 hr 17 rbi)

Just as he seemed to be on his way to returning next month, Smyly getting Tommy John surgery, out 12-15 months.

Jeff Sullivan:

I’m borrowing liberally from Baseball Savant. I’m drawn to its expected-wOBA metric, based on batted-ball speed and direction. Although it’s a number that could undergo further study, for purposes of validation, it makes intuitive sense. Why not explore? So that’s what I did, looking at 2017 starting pitchers. I searched for expected wOBA on batted balls for starters, setting a minimum of 250 tracked at-bats. James Paxton shows up at .305. His just happens to be the lowest number in the list.

Paxton, in other words, currently ranks No. 1. He’s allowed what you’d expect to be the least-damaging batted balls. In reality, this can be a noisy stat — correlations appear to be weak. So I looked at 2016 as well, to try to increase the sample size. Paxton, a year ago, ranked in the 78th percentile among starters. So, worse, but still good. Combining 2016 and 2017 together, Paxton ranks in the 96th percentile....

http://www.fangraphs.com/blogs/lets-all-agree-that-james-paxton-is-one-of-the-best-pitchers-around/