Cody Snavely
Prior to tonight’s start against the San Fransisco Giants, the Los Angeles Dodgers have reportedly DFA’s veteran left-handed pitcher James Paxton in a move that was likely to make room on the 40-man roster for rookie River Ryan, who is making his Major League debut tonight.
Chad Day first broke the move, which Fansided’s Robert Murray later confirmed.
The news comes as a shock to many fans and MLB insiders. Despite a high ERA, the Dodgers’ starting rotation is in desperate need of inning eaters. This is coming off a start in which Paxton pitched well against the Red Sox last night, going five innings and allowing four hits and three runs.
So far on the season, Paxton is 8-2 with a 4.43 ERA and a 4.97 WHIP. He hit the mid-90s on his fastball for most of the season but was plagued by walks, as his 1.455 WHIP is the second-highest of his career.
Paxton’s ERA also stems from decreases in most of his statistics. His 16.4% strikeout rate is nearly six percentage points shy of the 22.3% league average, while his 12.3% walk rate is way north of the 8.2% average.
Paxton has been hit particularly hard of late; dating back to June 5, he carries a 6.03 ERA in 37 1/3 innings (eight starts). Stretch that endpoint to mid-May, and Paxton has been embarassed for a 5.82 ERA in his past 11 starts, averaging less than 4 2/3 frames per outing.
As mentioned earlier, the Dodgers needed to make a 40-man roster move for River Ryan and will have to make another move later this week when left-handed pitcher Clayton Kershaw is activated before his Thursday start.
James Paxton signed with the Dodgers on a one-year seven million dollar deal that could’ve reached thirteen million if the lefty met certain performance and roster bonuses.
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