James Paxton reflects on his long road back
On the surface, this 8-6 loss to the Cardinals Friday night. should have been one of the more painful for these Red Sox. Full house. Beautiful night. One-run lead heading into the bottom of the ninth, setting the stage for Save No. 401 for Kenley Jansen. And then ... oops.
The Man of the Week gives up three runs without getting an out and the good times that had been built up thanks in large part to a two-run eighth inning flew out the window.
But this felt like a big picture type of takeaway. That was thanks to James Paxton.
While the hiccups from both Josh Winckowski and Jansen - who combined to give up six runs while recording just two outs - would seem to be simple bumps in the road, the true development of note came via the Sox starter.
Pitching in a major league game for the first time since April 6, 2001, Paxton elicited the kind of reaction and results that certainly seemed best-case-scenario.
There was just two runs in five innings, striking out nine along the way. Thanks in part to a fastball that topped out at 97.8 mph, Paxton presented about as optimistic an image as anyone could hope for.
"He looked like the guy that was pitching in Seattle a while ago," said Red Sox manager Alex Cora. "The fastball was playing, the breaking ball got better through the outing, the cutter, he dotted a few of those. He was in control."
"Honestly, it kind of felt like my debut all over again after being out for so long," said Paxton. "All those emotions -- you’re nervous, you’re excited, all that. I just focused on getting ready for the game with everything I had."
Suggesting that this Paxton offered similarities to what the lefty presented while pitching for the Mariners was something significant. That was a guy who struck out 208 batters in just 160 1/3 innings on his way to a 3.76 ERA in 28 starts during the 2019 season.
That year, Paxton threw his fastball almost 60 percent of the time, averaging 95.4 mph on the pitch. After that, there was the cutter and curveball, both of which were offered around 20 percent of the time.
Friday night sure seemed familiar.
Paxton ended up throwing his heater 53 times (61 percent), totaling an average velocity of 96.3 mph. The offering got 10 whiffs on 28 swings. There were also 20 cutters and 14 curves.
If this is the Paxton the Red Sox have ended up with after all this time - and on a $4 million deal for 2023 - it's a development far more important than one loss to the Cardinals.