New York Yankees News: James Paxton Reveals Tremendous Injury Update
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James Paxton’s health has been a big issue for the Yankees, especially this offseason.
The New York Yankees rotation heading into the 2020 season has been arguably the biggest issue surrounding the team. Luis Severino is already done for the year after undergoing Tommy John surgery, Domingo German is suspended for a significant portion whenever the campaign begins, and James Paxton underwent back surgery, which was expected to sideline him for months. The signing of Gerrit Cole masked these concerns for a bit.
But Yankees fans have one reason to be glad about the delayed season — it gave Paxton enough time to heal. The left-hander revealed on Friday that he will be “ready to go” whenever baseball returns, which leaves New York with one fewer question mark on the injury front.
The Bombers need all they can get out of him, too, because he’ll be a free agent after this year.
"I'll be ready to go."
— YES Network (@YESNetwork) May 22, 2020
James Paxton’s back is "a non-issue" and he's ready to rejoin the Yankees rotation when the season begins, he tells @M_Marakovits. #YESWereHere pic.twitter.com/fW1uyts9WP
Finally, some much-needed good news for a Yankees roster that has interminably been dealing with awful injury news. Paxton will be taking the bump and should provide a left arm among the 1-2-3 punch of him, Cole and Masahiro Tanaka.
This isn’t all that surprising, however, since Paxton underwent the procedure to remove a cyst from his back in February and was expected to miss up to four months of action, which would have slated him for an early June return.
Nonetheless, it’s great to hear he has a new routine as he looks to get back on track in addition to working on his pitches, specifically his fastball.
James Paxton says he's trying to add fastball #spinrate by adjusting his grip so his thumb makes less contact with the ball (starts ~2:30, grip stuff 3:30-4:15).
— David Adler (@_dadler) May 22, 2020
Compare Paxton's 4-seam spin (2,263 rpm) to, say, Gerrit Cole's (2,530 rpm)... More backspin can help add whiffs. https://t.co/vymkRCFMPe
After all, opposing batters hit .260 off his fastball in 2019, which was a bit of a regression considering those numbers were .230 and .228 in the previous two seasons.
With Paxton on the mend and already looking to improve ahead of what could be his final season in the Bronx, fans should be thrilled to hear the state of the rotation is only getting better.
Next. Yankees Spring Training Update. dark