Mariners starter James Paxton exits early in season debut with discomfort in left forearm
Mariners starter James Paxton, who was making his season debut in his anticipated return to the club that drafted him, exited early Tuesday night at T-Mobile Park with discomfort in his left forearm.
The crowd of 7,980 cheered as he walked out of the bullpen pregame, welcoming back the 32-year-old pitcher who captivated Seattle’s fan base in his six seasons with the Mariners before he was traded to the Yankees following the 2018 season.
But, the veteran left-hander’s homecoming ended abruptly in the second inning.
Paxton threw 24 pitches before leaving the field with what he and manager Scott Servais later said was left forearm discomfort. Paxton said he could feel the discomfort coming on in the second inning.
“It just got worse and worse and just kind of felt it, and it got to a point where I wasn’t able to throw pitches,” he said.
The pitch that was ultimately Paxton’s last was a 92 mph fastball to Andrew Vaughn. The 32-year-old appeared to grimace as he returned to the mound.
Catcher Luis Torrens jogged over and the Mariners infield corralled around Paxton as he bent over, prompting Servais and athletic trainer Kyle Torgerson to hurry from the dugout.
“Right away you know something’s not right,” Servais said. “He’s disappointed. He felt something in his forearm and at that point the night is over, just shut it down and see what the doctors have to say.”
Paxton appeared frustrated as left the field with Torgerson moments later.
“I feel like for me it’s kind of been one thing after another,” Paxton said. “I work really hard and do everything that I can to be out there, and I’ll continue to do so, and hopefully I can catch a break and stay healthy for a good chunk of time in the future.”
Paxton pitched only five games last summer after undergoing a lumbar discectomy in February of 2020, and was placed on the injured list in August with a left flexor strain, and eventually shut down for the season.
He elected free agency in October, and signed a signed a reported one-year, $8.5 million deal — which could reach as high as $10 million with bonuses — with the Mariners in February.
Paxton said he felt back at full strength this spring, though the Mariners were still cautious with his ramp up. He made two Cactus League starts before the Mariners broke camp, allowing one run on four hits with four walks and 17 strikeouts across 8 1/3 innings.
“It’s kind of been a process through the recovery of my flexor strain from last year, throwing this offseason, going to bullpens, getting in spring training games, and that process was all going well,” Paxton said. “I was going through the levels kind of building it up and just came into tonight.
“I was pretty confident I was going to be good, but it turned out that it just was a little bit too much for what my flexor was ready for I guess.”
Paxton will undergo an MRI on Wednesday morning to assess his next steps, but said the discomfort he felt during Tuesday’s start differers from the flexor strain last season.
“The flexor strain before there was a lot more pain than there is right now, so I’m feeling pretty optimistic that this could be a pretty quick thing,” he said. “Obviously I don’t know much right now. We’re going to get some imaging done and we’ll know more in the coming days.”
Paxton was off to a quick start in his return to Seattle prior to the second inning. He worked a quick, nine-pitch first, getting a weak infield fly from Adam Eaton on the first pitch of the game, and back-to-back swinging strikeouts of Luis Robert and Jose Abreu.
He walked Yoan Moncada to open the second, but then got Yermin Mercedes to ground out to first. He left the game following his third pitch to Vaughn.
Paxton was charged with one run when Moncada scored on a three-run homer by Zack Collins later in the inning after reliever Nick Margevicius took over. He allowed the one run on no hits, with the one walk and two strikeouts.
Paxton reunited with the Mariners this offseason after spending the past two seasons with the Yankees. After he was traded as part of Seattle’s roster overhaul in late 2018, he posted a career-high in starts and wins in 2019, finishing 15-6 with a 3.82 ERA in 29 outings.
He was originally drafted by the Mariners in the fourth round in 2010 and debuted for the club late in the 2013 season. He spent several stints on the injured list during his time in Seattle, but made 20 or more starts each of his final three seasons with the club.
In 2017, he posted a 12-5 record and 2.98 ERA across 24 starts, and followed up in 2018 with a 11-6 record and 3.76 ERA across 28 starts with a career-high 208 strikeouts.
He also threw the first and second complete games of his career that season — including the most recent no-hitter in Mariners history that May.
This story was originally published April 6, 2021 at 8:01 PM.
