James Paxton: 2019 Season in Review

On the anniversary of his trade to New York, take a look back on how The Big Maple performed in his first season in pinstripes

James Paxton was through 5.2 innings in Game 5 of the ALCS when Aaron Boone slowly sauntered out to the mound at Yankee Stadium. The left-hander had thrown 111 pitches and the tying run for Houston loomed on deck.

In a matter of seconds, Boone nodded his head and turned to head back to the dugout, trusting Paxton to get out of the frame unscathed.

You can even read his lips. “I’m good,” Paxton said. “Let’s go.”

Boone’s pirouette back to the Yankees’ dugout, confirming the lefty would stay in to face at least one more batter, ignited a deafening roar from the Yankee faithful.

All Paxton needed was one more pitch -- a fly ball hauled in by Brett Gardner at the base of the left field wall. He was done for the night, and for the season, emphatically fist pumping on the infield grass.

The Big Maple’s performance in Game 5 of the ALCS was a culmination of an all-around impressive campaign in 2019. After being acquired by the Yankees in a three player deal, sending top-rated left-hander Justus Sheffield to the Seattle Mariners, the pressure was on for Paxton to perform at the top of the Yankees rotation.

In his first season in pinstripes, Paxton delivered and sets his sights on an even better year in 2020.

Highlights

James Paxton had a breakout season in 2017, following it up with a solid 2018 campaign including a no-hitter in Toronto on May 8. Upon his arrival in the Bronx last winter, however, there was still untapped potential in this 31-year-old’s arsenal.

His first season with the Bombers turned out to be one of the best of his seven-year career in the big leagues. Paxton set career highs in wins (15) and games started (29) -- his 3.82 ERA, 186 strikeouts and only 23 home runs allowed led New York’s starting rotation.

One year ago today, the Big Maple🍁 landed in the Big Apple🍎 pic.twitter.com/drZ7qpyowp
— YES Network (@YESNetwork) November 19, 2019

The second half of the season was when Paxton really locked in. After losing two of his first three starts after the All-Star break, Paxton won his next 10 straight decisions. From August 2 to September 21, the left-hander had an ERA of 2.25 and an opponent batting average of 1.67.

The 10-game winning streak for Paxton was the longest in baseball since Justin Verlander did it for Detroit in 2011. It’s the longest streak of consecutive victories for a Yankee pitcher since Ron Guidry (11) in 1979.

.@James_Paxton is the first @Yankees pitcher to win 10+ consecutive starts since Ron Guidry in 1979. pic.twitter.com/EJRy7ZAjIg
— MLB Stats (@MLBStats) September 21, 2019

Although he didn’t match his strikeout totals from his final year in Seattle (208), The Big Maple proved he’s still got swing-and-miss stuff.

Paxton posted five double-digit strikeout performances in 2019, including back-to-back 12 punch out games in April. He finished the season in 29th place for the most strikeouts by any pitcher in the game.

.@James_Paxton becomes just the 3rd @Yankees pitcher to have 3 games with 12+ Ks and 1 BB or fewer in a season (Mussina 2001 & Tanaka 2017). pic.twitter.com/kS4CM8HdJU
— MLB Stats (@MLBStats) September 4, 2019

Room For Improvement

There’s always room for improvement, right?

Yes, Paxton set a new best in games started but he also missed almost the entire month of May on the 10-day injured list with left knee inflammation. Then again, almost every Yankee was on the injured list at some point, so we’ll cut him some slack here.

According to Statcast, Paxton surrendered an average launch angle of 17.1 degrees in 2019, the highest of his career. The left-hander was barreled up 29 times in 2019, 7.4 percent of the time -- to put that into perspective, in 2017, Paxton’s opponents were able to barrel the ball a mere 2.8 percent of the time.

To continue to nitpick, Paxton walked 55 batters this past season -- 13 more than he did in 2018 -- which directly contributed to his increase in WHIP (1.28).

Finally, Paxton struggled at times away from Yankee Stadium. His ERA on the road (4.33) was almost a full point higher than it was at home (3.35), batters hit more home runs off Paxton when New York was the visiting team and interestingly, Paxton’s BAbip was significantly higher on the road (.351) than it was in the Bronx (.278) -- meaning harder hit balls were more common away from Yankee Stadium.

Grade: A-

Paxton was acquired one year ago Tuesday, as New York ramped up its search for a high-end hurler -- on the anniversary of said deal, it’s safe to say shipping off a top-rated prospect was not only justifiable, but beneficial.

Simply put, if this southpaw can carry over his performance from the second half of last season into 2020, New York might not even need to spend hundreds of millions on an ace in free agency.

In fact, adding a starter this winter destined for the second or third spot in the rotation, a staff headlined by Paxton, could be a route Brian Cashman and the Yankees consider this offseason. It certainly would save a boatload of money that could be invested in adding positional depth or extending their young stars in the near future.

Paxton pitched seven frames in two starts in 2019 -- he didn’t allow a run in either, striking out 12 in both outings. When at his best, this southpaw is about as dominant as any starting pitcher in the big leagues and has legitimate ace-caliber potential.

If 2019 was any indication, 2020 is going to be even sweeter for The Big Maple.

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