SAN DIEGO — It has rarely been pretty for James Paxton.
The veteran left-hander has given up his fair share of hard contact. He’s still walked more batters (24) than he’s struck out (22). Expected metrics have sung a sour note on the work he’s put forth. His first month of the season has frustrated him, a constant fight against his own mechanics.
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And yet, look at his line, and Paxton has been just about everything the Los Angeles Dodgers could have asked for. After six scoreless innings in a 5-0 win Saturday over the San Diego Padres, he’s running a 2.58 ERA. Among pitchers with at least 30 innings, that ranks 22nd in baseball.
He’s taken the ball seven times, all on extra rest, and largely delivered. Given the chameleonic nature of the pitching staff around him, that has been all the Dodgers could have hoped for. The club signed him late in the winter not with October in mind, but April and May. They opted not to send him to South Korea (and cost him a chance at the $70,000 that came with it) in order to remain in reserve. The 35-year-old was supposed to grease the path toward those final months. It’s a simple job on paper. So far, he’s fulfilled it.
“He’s exceeded it,” manager Dave Roberts said.
Saturday represented his best start to date. He didn’t walk anyone for the first time all year, struck out four, survived a pair of fly balls to the warning track and exited after six scoreless innings. He threw harder than he had in any other start this season. He survived on essentially just his fastball and curveball. He’s never had much of a feel for his cutter this year, but he found another way to get outs. Facing the Padres along with the largest crowd in Petco Park’s 20-year history, Paxton provided.
“It’s one of those things where you want to listen to the silence when you’re on the road in a hostile environment,” Roberts said. “James set the tone.”
Six shutout innings for James! pic.twitter.com/W9iB8oXOsO
— Los Angeles Dodgers (@Dodgers) May 12, 2024
His manager greeted him with a hug when Paxton’s night was over. The left-hander then walked over to the other end of the dugout and said hello to his children. For the second consecutive start, Paxton was satisfied with how he got to his end destination.
“I feel like I’m in a good spot,” Paxton said.
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Almost a month ago, against this same club, Paxton tiptoed around disaster. He went out on national television and walked a career-most eight batters, somehow allowing just three runs in five innings amid the deluge of free base runners. His mechanics were a wreck. His “choppy” arm motion cost him all semblance of command, with his arm essentially cutting itself off for much of his stride toward the plate. For much of April, he resembled a trapeze artist more than the left-hander the Dodgers had handed $7 million for this season.
He got through it. Now, he’s pitching better, and the results have stayed along with it.
“Zero walks tonight felt really good after the eight walks,” Paxton said.
The results have gotten the Dodgers to the point of the season where their difficult pitching decisions can remain difficult.
Walker Buehler has already made his return. Bobby Miller is making steps toward one of his own. Clayton Kershaw’s return is approaching. Those in the rotation appear to have found something, too. Tyler Glasnow is pitching at ace-like levels. Yoshinobu Yamamoto has found his stride. Gavin Stone is pitching as well as he has in his short career.
Paxton has helped bridge the gap for a club that has now won 15 of its last 18 games. Teoscar Hernández walloped a hanging two-strike breaking ball for a grand slam with a cathartic bat flip to boot. Freddie Freeman continued his resurgence.
It wasn’t all pretty, though. Shohei Ohtani exited in the ninth inning with lower-back tightness. The Dodgers’ concern over their $700 million man is “minimal,” Roberts said, but it remains something to monitor.
(Photo of James Paxton: Orlando Ramirez / USA Today)
Fabian Ardaya is a staff writer covering the Los Angeles Dodgers for The Athletic. He previously spent three seasons covering the crosstown Los Angeles Angels for The Athletic. He graduated from Arizona State University’s Walter Cronkite School of Journalism and Mass Communication in May 2017 after growing up in a Phoenix-area suburb. Follow Fabian on Twitter @FabianArdaya
