Baseball Yankees Hot Corner – Paxton turning the corner by Chris Passarelli April 22, 2019 ‘Big Maple’ is finally starting to pitch to his nickname. The big left-hander James Paxton came into New York with huge expectations. After trading for him before the season, Brian Cashman had the expectation that Paxton would fill right in as the third starter in the Yankees rotation. While it’s been a bumpy road so far, due to both incompetent play and injuries, the Yankees are back on track and a lot of that can be attributed to James Paxton. The lefty over his past two starts has pitched 14 innings total, given up only five hits, has given up zero runs and most importantly has back to back 12 strikeout games. 24 strikeouts in two games is impressive even in this day & age, and the uptick in strikeouts also shows that Paxton is using his nasty stuff correctly. When Paxton is on, he is one of the best pitchers in the league. He easily hits high 90s on his fastball and his breaking stuff is excellent when he can find the plate. When he’s off he loses control of his fastball and his pitches don’t have the same break. Part of Paxton’s success recently can be seen in his confident demeanor on the mound. Whether it be the sports psychologist he’s been seeing or just confidence in himself, he looks like a completely different pitcher out there. He’s in an excellent spot and the Yankees will need him over the next few months as he’s become the de facto #2 starter behind Masahiro Tanaka. Without him, the Yankees could start to fall behind. Post Views: 840 The following two tabs change content below.BioLatest Posts Chris Passarelli Football Editor - Hockey Editor - New York Islanders Lead Writer - New York Lizards Lead Writer - UConn Football Lead Writer Latest posts by Chris Passarelli (see all) NFL Network to Premiere ‘The Top 100 Players of 2020’ on July 26 - July 22, 2020 The ‘Toilet Bowl’ may be coming to Western New York - July 16, 2020 Bigger is Better; SoFi Stadium Completes Largest Videoboard in Sports - July 1, 2020 Smoltz, Vrabel and Brown talk American Century Championship and Everything in Between - June 30, 2020 Related TopicsJames PaxtonNew York Yankees Click to comment You must be logged in to post a comment Login Leave a Reply Cancel replyYou must be logged in to post a comment. Newsletter Subscription Can't Miss Posts! Women in Sports: NHL Network Host, Jackie Redmond by Nicholas Durst | posted on March 4, 2019 Passion For Sports Led Kelly Burke To Career As Broadcaster by Sunil Sunder Raj | posted on November 16, 2020 XFL Co-Owner Dany Garcia Talks Business, Serving Others at espnW Women + Sports Summit by Candace Cordelia | posted on October 23, 2020 Women in Sports: Ariel Epstein, On-Air Host at SportsGrid (VIDEO) by Anthony Paradiso | posted on March 12, 2021 Exclusive Interview: SNY Personality, Maria Marino, Shares Career Journey (VIDEO) by Sunil Sunder Raj | posted on January 28, 2021 More in Baseball You Know I’m Right, Episode 112: New York Jets’ Insider Brian Costello (Audio/Video) On the 112th episode of You Know I’m Right, Nick Durst and Joe Calabrese are joined by... You Know I’m Right, Episode 109: The Athletic’s Marc Carig (Audio/Video) On the 109th episode of You Know I’m Right, Nick Durst and Joe Calabrese are joined by... You Know I’m Right, Episode 108: WFAN’s Sweeny Murti (Audio/Video) On the 108th episode of You Know I’m Right, Nick Durst and Joe Calabrese are joined by... You Know I’m Right, Episode 107: New York Post’s Columnist Mike Vaccaro (Audio/Video) On the 107th episode of You Know I’m Right, Nick Durst and Joe Calabrese are joined by... Yankees GBU – The Yankees are the walking wounded Did I jinx the Yankees?