James Paxton struggles with velocity in first start back from injury
WASHINGTON — James Paxton was searching for it in his last “start.” The Yankees left-hander pitched a simulated game against his teammates on Monday and said he was fighting his mechanics and looking for those last few ticks.
Well, Paxton didn’t find it here in Washington, D.C.
Paxton got pounded, unable to record an out in the second inning of a sloppy blowout that featured a combined seven errors in 9-2 loss at Nationals Park. The Yankees (1-1) and Nationals (1-1) play the deciding game of this series Sunday.
Giancarlo Stanton crushed his second home run of the season, a solo shot to center-left field that nearly bounced to the concourse. The 483-foot homer was his 22nd at Nationals Park, the most by any visiting player and with a 121.3-mph exit velocity, the hardest-hit ball of the young season.
DJ LeMahieu, in his first game after missing two weeks of the rebooted spring training due to COVID-19, had an RBI-single in his second at-bat of the season. He played just five innings in the field as the Yankees looked to ease him back and also wanted him for Sunday’s matchup against lefty Patrick Corbin.
That was all spoiled by the hole the Yankees found themselves in early thanks to Paxton.
Paxton gave up three straight singles to start the second and then after getting ahead of Victor Robles 0-2, he gave up a two-run double. After walking Michael Taylor, the Yankees had seen enough.
Rookie Michael King came in with the bases loaded and no outs to get a double-play ball and a fly out. King gave the Yankees 3 1/3 innings, allowing four runs on four hits, including a two-run homer off the left-field foul pole to Robles in the fourth. He struck out two. Ben Heller and Luis Vailan each gave up a run in an innings work.
Most concerning, however, was Paxton.
His velocity Saturday was strikingly low. His four-seam fastball, which sat at 95-96 miles an hour last season, topped out at 93.8 mph on Saturday.
“I think that it’s a little mechanical thing that I’m working on that I just need to get comfortable with, so that I can get those last few miles an hour,” Paxton had said earlier. “I think also being in a game with some different jerseys in the box will help as well.”
With Paxton’s history of injuries that certainly raises a red flag.
Aaron Boone said he did not want him pitching in the exhibition against the Phillies, because he would have to face them early in the season. He did not pitch in the original spring training either — a week before pitchers were to report, he had surgery on his back.
So, he has not pitched with a public radar gun trained on him since last season.
The lefty was expected to miss the first few months of the season, but was able to start on time after the coronavirus shutdown.
The issue could be exactly what Paxton was talking about after his simulated start: He’s struggling with his mechanics.
“I am still looking for the last few last few ticks, trying to get that really comfortable feeling out there with my rhythm and everything,” Paxton said. “I’m working towards it. You know, I feel like I’m ready to go for (Saturday), gonna take whatever I’ve got and go out there and do what I do.”
Specifically Paxton said he was working on getting a full extension on his delivery, which was most likely a factor in the balls he left up on Saturday night. Still, it was not the Paxton the Yankees saw at the end of last year. Paxton was 15-6 with a 3.82 ERA in 29 games last season. After posting a 4.01 ERA in the first half, he had a 3.63 ERA in the second half.
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