The Mariners and Yankees swapped left-handers last November. They’ll face each other Wednesday
Justus Sheffield offered a smile, and chuckled at the question. Was he aware of who he would match up with Wednesday when the New York Yankees came to town?
“Yeah, I know,” he said.
Coming off of his first start in the majors Friday night — he allowed three earned runs on seven hits with three walks and strikeouts in four complete innings against Toronto — Seattle’s rookie left-hander spoke of wanting to prove he belongs in the big leagues during these final few weeks of the season.
It just turns out his next opportunity to do that will come against his former club, against another left-hander the Mariners are very familiar with. Certainly there’s a bit of oddity in who Sheffield will face in this next start — James Paxton, Seattle’s former ace pitcher, whom he was traded for last November.
Rookie right-hander Erik Swanson, currently in Seattle’s bullpen, and Dom Thompson-Williams, who is roaming the outfield with Double-A Arkansas also joined the Mariners as part of that deal, but Sheffield was the biggest name, and opened the season as the organization’s top prospect.
The outcome of Wednesday’s meeting between Sheffield and Paxton might at least be a good check-in point on how the trade is panning out for either side, but Mariners manager Scott Servais doesn’t think this particular start should feel any different to Sheffield.
“He played for the Indians (organization). He played for the Yankees. It’s more about him controlling his emotions, throwing strikes,” Servais said. “I know he had a good bullpen session yesterday. … He’s just playing a baseball game.”
Sheffield has echoed this sentiment in the past. But, when asked about the trade in April, just before he debuted with Triple-A Tacoma, Sheffield said he didn’t feel a sense of pressure to match Paxton’s production as the centerpiece of what Seattle received in the deal.
It was exciting and encouraging that the Mariners thought enough of him to bring him into the organization, he said then, but he just wants to pitch to his own ability, and not focus on who the opposing pitcher might be.
“It’s the same game,” he said then. “You’re out there facing other guys who are just as talented — maybe even more talented than you — but you’ve still got to go out there and do your job.
“That’s what it really boils down to is going out and doing my job.”
For what it’s worth, though, here’s a look at what the numbers do say about the deal so far.
Paxton, who is 30, and has significantly more MLB experience than Sheffield, is 10-6 with a 4.43 ERA in 23 starts entering the game, and is on pace to win more games than he did in his final season with the Mariners, when he went 11-6 with a 3.76 ERA in 28 starts.
That all includes a nearly month-long injured list stay in May, when he was dealing with inflammation in his left knee.
“(It’s) an adjustment,” Paxton said of his first season with New York. “It’s different. It’s not the same at all. It’s taken some getting used to, but I feel like I’ve grown as a pitcher and learned a lot, and I think I’ll be better for it, despite there obviously being some growing pains there and getting used to it.
“Now it feels normal. I feel like I have my legs under me. I know what I’m doing. It doesn’t mean I’m going to do well every time out, but I feel like I’m a lot more comfortable now than I was early on.”
Sheffield, 23, started the season with the Rainiers, compiling a 2-6 record and 6.87 ERA in 13 games (12 starts). He also made one spot relief appearance with the Mariners in late April, allowing two earned runs on two hits, while walking four and striking out three in three innings.
He struggled to locate pitches during his time in Triple-A, and in that one big-league appearance, and often allowed himself to get too quick in his delivery when his emotions were heightened. At the midseason mark, he fell back to No. 9 on Seattle’s prospects list.
When he was demoted to Double-A midway through June, though, many of those issues seemed to disappear. He pitched with a much calmer demeanor, and went 5-3 with a 2.19 ERA and 85-18 strikeout-to-walk ratio in 12 starts before the Mariners called him back up last week.
“Much more under control,” Servais said. “He’s in a different spot. For me, he looks pretty relaxed. He looks more like the guy we saw in spring training than the guy we saw here for that one appearance early in the season. That’s really true to the reports we were getting of how he was throwing in Arkansas as well.
“It’s just going to take time. Patience, patience, patience. He’s going to make six, seven more starts. I would hope there’s a few good ones in there. I know there will be a few rough ones in there. Along the way, he just continues to learn.”
Swanson, 25, has appeared in nearly every pitching capacity in 16 games with the Mariners — reliever (eight games), true starter (six) and opener (two) — working to a 1-5 record and 6.70 ERA. But, all of his decisions, and most of his rougher outings, came during the April and May stretch where he was dubbed a starter to help Seattle’s ailing rotation.
When he was optioned back to Tacoma in May, the Mariners converted him to a reliever, and he hasn’t allowed a run in his past four outings, and six of his past seven.
“His fastball has ability to play up in the zone and get on hitters, and when they see him one time, it’s more effective than trying to get through a lineup twice,” Servais said. “Trying to get his confidence going, get him in a good spot, I think this has worked out a little bit better.”
Thompson-Williams, 24, the No. 25 prospect in Seattle’s organization, has spent the entire season with a Travelers team that is headed to the playoffs, and is slashing at .231/.297/.387 with 23 doubles, three triples, 12 homers, 40 RBIs and 15 stolen bases in 111 games.
This story was originally published August 28, 2019 at 6:00 AM.
