Mariners to give James Paxton another start

SAN DIEGO – The numbers and the loss from Wednesday count, but James Paxton will get a do over. Paxton will get a start in the upcoming Mariners homestand next week, manager Scott Servais confirmed Thursday afternoon.

“Definitely we are going to give him another shot,” Servais said. “We certainly hope the results are better.”

Former M’s pitcher Ryan Rowland-Smith on Paxton’s 2016 debut

While there were a number of things that went wrong or were odd in Paxton’s first inning against the Padres – from having his routine disrupted by having to take an at-bat right before making his first pitch, to not having the No. 1 defense behind him with both Leonys Martin and Ketel Marte on the DL – there was no excuse-making on the part of the Mariners or Paxton. Servais pointed to the comebacker play that Paxton spiked the throw on as a missed opportunity to get at least one out that hurt. Making that play may have gotten Paxton out of the inning, but without making his pitches he most likely wouldn’t have lasted long.

“You have to have a secondary pitch that you can go to not only when you are ahead in the count, but any time,” said Servais. “That’s going to be the focus, that’s what needs to get better. He doesn’t need to throw any harder. The feel of the pitch, fielding your position, holding runners, obviously need to get tightened up.”

That’s a long laundry list of things to get accomplished between now and his next start, but Servais expects better from Paxton. The ability is there, the potential is there. He’s spent the better part of three seasons in the big leagues, and Servais would like to see him step up and grab the opportunity.

“There comes a time too when you have an opportunity to step up. You get a chance to make an impact on a team. Sometimes you just put a little chip on your shoulder, and come with an edge and say this is my time,” said Servais.

“This is James Paxton’s time.”

As I mentioned when shortstop Chris Taylor was sent down, the direction for this team – even before they played their first game – is different this year. It is not about developing young players at the big league level. It would appear that Servais is looking for Paxton to show a little something. Unlike Taylor, he will get an immediate second chance.

“He’ll get the ball,” said Servais. “It was a bad start, one you can’t do over. You’d like to, but this is James Paxton’s time.”

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