After spending the past two seasons with the New York Yankees, veteran pitcher James Paxton returned to his Seattle Mariners roots this past offseason. The 32-year-old left-hander signed a one-year, $8.5 million contract.
Unfortunately, Paxton left his first start in his return to the Mariners on April 6 against the Chicago White Sox in the second inning. Paxton’s departure was due to an elbow injury.
We now have more information on this. To say it’s not great would be an understatement. Jon Heyman of MLB Network is reporting that Tommy John surgery is being recommended for Paxton.
As noted, this means Paxton will miss the remainder of the 2021 season.
A fourth-round pick of the Seattle Mariners back in 2010, injuries have now defined a once-promising career for Paxton. He was limited to five starts for the Yankees during the truncated 2020 season after undergoing a microscopic lumbar discectomy to remove a peridiscal cyst.
All said, Paxton has yet to make as many as 30 starts in any of his first nine MLB seasons. This is only going to add to that. It really is an unfortunate turn of events after Paxton looked like his old self during spring training. The veteran pitched to a 1.08 ERA and 0.96 WHIP in two exhibition starts.
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