Regardless of the outcome, the story tonight was always going to be James Paxton’s return to the mound for the first time in 766 days. Luckily for me, the game recapper, I’ve been here before. Evaluating James Paxton tonight is basically the same task as evaluating Chris Sale when he returned from a long hiatus. After pouring over the film, rewatching every pitch, and diving into the pitching models and advanced statistics I’ve come to a conclusion on Paxton. Who the hell knows?
It’s easy to forget just how good Paxton was, given that he hasn’t pitched in more than five games in a season since 2019.