The Dodgers' addition of left-handed starter James Paxton didn't garner as much excitement as some of the other moves the team made this offseason. This is rightfully so, but Paxton can still provide the team with some solid production in the back end of their starting rotation.
He is coming off a season with the Boston Red Sox where he looked incredible in the first half of the year. After returning from Tommy John surgery, Paxton went 6-2 with an ERA of 3.34 over the first 13 starts.
However, after the month of August, Paxton's numbers declined exponentially. He went 1-3 with an ERA of 7.62 over six starts before missing the final month of the year with a right knee issue.
Los Angeles will be counting on Paxton to return to form this year, and they can help ease their concerns if they don't pitch him on short rest. The numbers from last season when Paxton pitched on short rest compared to when he didn't are pretty stark.
When he pitched on four days of rest, Paxton posted an ERA of 9.39, with a record of 0-2. But when he got five or more days of rest, Paxton posted a solid ERA of 3.57, with a record of 7-3.
He opened up about the struggles, saying that he wasn't conditioned enough to return from his injury by pitching on short rest while with Boston.
“Early in the season, I had a lot of extra rest, and then we went to a shorter leash,” Paxton said. “Coming off a surgery and that much time off, I wasn’t conditioned for that. If you start off going [every five days] your body gets accustomed to that, whereas if you go six all the time, that’s what your body gets accustomed to. We’re creatures of habit.”
With their additions of Yoshinobu Yamamoto and Tyler Glasnow, the Dodgers shouldn't have to lean on Paxton to perform on short rest. They can allow him time to heal between starts, to hopefully ensure that he is healthy throughout the year.
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