I said if he's going to start striking out nearly 30% of batters, Unit-like, then I won't fret about the walks or high pitch counts, but we haven't seen that from James yet.
My main point was that his very strong 24.0 IP in majors didn't really indicate the optimism that it's engendered:
Stat: Tacoma | Seattle
HR%: 1.6 | 2.1
K% : 20.5 | 22.3
BB%: 9.1 | 7.5
P/PA: 4.07 | 4.02
ISO-agst: .122 | .127
WHIP: 1.48 | 0.92
BABIP: .340 | .203
Yes, the BB% dropped a bit, but otherwise the only real change was a dramatic reversal in BABIP.
In other words, we can't really declare a "dominant" James Paxton from those 24.0 IP.
That's not the same thing as saying that "dominant" James Paxton won't ever emerge. I'm just saying that he hasn't yet.
A guy with high pitch counts, high walk rate and K% in the low 20s -- rather than high 20s or low 30s -- is Bedard, not Unit.
Again, that's not saying I don't want him.
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