BRENT STECKER

Stecker’s Three Things: Mariners lefty James Paxton is the best pitcher in baseball (so far)

Apr 17, 2017, 6:00 AM | Updated: 8:43 am

James Paxton has started the 2017 season with 21 straight scoreless innings, a Mariners record. (AP...

James Paxton has started the 2017 season with 21 straight scoreless innings, a Mariners record. (AP)

(AP)

It’s funny what an early-season sweep of the defending division champs will do for confidence in a baseball team.

At the conclusion of each of the first three series of the 2017 season for the Mariners, it seemed like the sky was falling. Then Seattle reeled off three quality victories over the Rangers, improving to 5-8 and leap-frogging Texas in the standings. Now we’ll get to find out just how good the American League West is as the Mariners will get their first break from playing division rivals this season, inviting team legend Ichiro Suzuki and his Miami Marlins to town for a three-game set.

Here are three things to keep in mind as the Mariners close out their first homestand of the year.

1. James Paxton is a really good baseball pitcher

James Paxton was supposed to be pretty good in 2017, so his early success isn’t entirely a surprise. Then again, nobody really expected the big lefty from British Columbia to be the best pitcher in baseball through his first three starts to the season. Click on the MLB’s pitching leaders, though, and there’s Paxton’s 0.00 ERA sitting on top of everything thanks to 21 straight scoreless innings, which is the most by a Mariners pitcher to begin a campaign. That’s still 13 frames short of Mark Langston’s club record for consecutive scoreless innings, regardless of timing, but the way Paxton is throwing right now, who’s to say he won’t challenge that, too? Paxton had an eye-opening 2016, adding velocity to his fastball and extra bite to his curveball, but the 28-year-old southpaw looks like a different pitcher altogether from even a season ago. He doesn’t just have stuff. He doesn’t just have the ability to throw a complete-game shutout every once in a while. He’s become downright sensational on the mound, because not only does he have pitches that are hard to hit, he is now completely confident in what his plan is coming into every outing, and he has the ability to adjust that plan if necessary. Just look at what he did in the home opener a week ago against the Astros, who he had already pitched against in Houston to start his scoreless streak. The Astros showed in the early innings that they were going to lay off his curveball early in the count, so after talking it over with pitching coach Mel Stottlemyre Jr. and catcher Mike Zunino, Paxton started locating the curve more in the strike zone to get ahead in the count. The result was seven shutout frames and just two walks when all was said and done. Then on Saturday against Texas, Paxton was better than maybe he’s even been. He took a no-hitter into the sixth inning, struck out nine over eight frames, and he left to a standing ovation – with baseball’s best ERA belonging to him, no less. That was a star-making scene, and it felt like the emergence of a new ace in Seattle – not that Felix Hernandez, who had a pretty good outing himself the night before, is looking to relinquish the crown any time soon.

2. Rookie fever

So, who’s your favorite rookie in a Mariners uniform this season: Mitch Haniger or Taylor Motter? It’s tough to choose, isn’t it? Haniger got the Mariners Twitter-sphere throwing out (very) early Rookie of the Year speculation on Sunday after he delivered a huge three-run homer and made an impressive grab at the wall in right field in Seattle’s come-from-behind win. Not only that, he’s tied for fifth in the American League with 11 RBIs hitting out of the No. 2 spot, which is a blessing considering the trouble the Mariners’ core of offensive stars – Robinson Cano, Nelson Cruz and Kyle Seager – have had out of the gate. And then there’s Motter, who was a big hero on Saturday night, mashing an impressive 424-foot blast to plate three runs. He’s quickly gotten Seattle to notice him as more than just your average utility infielder, hitting .292, playing a serviceable shortstop while Jean Segura recovers from a mild hamstring strain, and making fans left and right with his trademark hair flip. He’s earned himself consideration to get more playing time when Segura comes back, but the question is where. First base, where Danny Valencia has struggled offensively to start, is an option, and so is left field, where the Mariners could choose to add him into the outfield rotation with Jarrod Dyson, Guillermo Heredia and Leonys Martin. By the way, notice how Haniger’s name wasn’t included in there? That’s a good thing for the M’s.

3. Small strides for the bullpen

Entering the Texas series, Seattle’s relievers were in bad shape. They had just blown their third game of the young season in spectacular fashion, and their youth and inexperience was looking like a real issue. They’re not out of the woods yet, but they did start moving in the right direction in the Texas series. A lot, if not most, of the credit belongs to the starting rotation, as Hernandez and Paxton both pitched into the eighth inning on Friday and Saturday, taking a lot off of the bullpen’s plate. A little credit also belongs to the Rangers’ own shaky bullpen, which was the loser in a war of attrition on Sunday. But the return of Tony Zych from a long layoff had to have helped manager Scott Servais feel a little better about where things stand, even if Zych has so far faced just two batters since coming off the disabled list on Friday. The next step for the Mariners is getting back Steve Cishek, who is their most experienced and probably best reliever, from a rehab assignment, but that won’t be until around the end of the month. A lot of games will be played until then, and the bullpen will no doubt be tested in the interim. One would have to believe general manager Jerry Dipoto is ready to pull the trigger on a move at the next sign of trouble, but at least the attention has been shifted away from the pen for the time being.

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