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Seattle Mariners: The Two Sides of James Paxton

By Jordan Wevers

Jun 26, 2016; Seattle, WA, USA; Seattle Mariners starting pitcher James Paxton (65) follows through on a pitch during the first inning against the St. Louis Cardinals at Safeco Field. Mandatory Credit: Jennifer Buchanan-USA TODAY Sports
Jun 26, 2016; Seattle, WA, USA; Seattle Mariners starting pitcher James Paxton (65) follows through on a pitch during the first inning against the St. Louis Cardinals at Safeco Field. Mandatory Credit: Jennifer Buchanan-USA TODAY Sports /
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You might be surprised to know the one variable that makes a lot of Seattle Mariners’ pitchers — James Paxton included — more efficient when on the mound.

While Seattle Mariners catcher Mike Zunino hasn’t been entirely beneficial to the M’s lineup over the last two and a half seasons hitting a combined .190/.246/.368, he has been crucial to the development of one of the club’s promising young arms.

James Paxton was electric pitching on his native Canadian soil on Friday night against one of baseball’s best offensive lineups MLB has to offer in the Toronto Blue Jays.

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The 27-year-old product of Ladner, British Columbia was coming off a rough outing versus the Astros on July 15 and a few less than favorable ones earlier in the month of July, where he now owns a 2-1 record with a 4.21 ERA in four starts.

However, everything was working on Friday against the Blue Jays. A lot of that had to do with Zunino being behind home plate. Paxton’s slider was hitting its mark consistently and he was routinely lighting up the radar gun with fastballs coming in at 95 mph.

The southpaw ended up going seven innings total, allowing only three hits (one a solo home run to fellow Canadian Michael Saunders) in the outing. Paxton punched out nine on the night before turning things over to a bullpen that finalized the 2-1 victory.

the previous two seasons saw Paxton’s progress mainly hampered by injuries. He pitched only 141 innings from 2014-15 and made 26 starts. His career line of 15-12 with a 3.43 ERA and K/9 of 7.6 do show definite signs of potential.

But one conclusion that can be drawn is this: when catcher Mike Zunino is playing, Paxton goes from being a serviceable rotation arm to one that flashes ace-like potential.

The two seem to have a strong rapport and chemistry with one another. In the 19 games and 97 innings where someone not named Zunino has caught Paxton, he has a 4.92 ERA with opponents hitting an inflated .308 versus him.

In an even larger sample size (21 G, 128.1 IP) with Zunino behind home plate, Paxton’s ERA drops to 2.31 with a BAA of .203 and a near microscopic BAbip of .238.

While it could be other factors like his health levels also contributing, it’s hard to deny the confidence Paxton has in his stuff with Zunino signalling him his pitch requests from some 60 feet away. To contrast, before Zunino was called up, Chris Iannetta was getting the bulk of starts behind the dish. He caught seven of Paxton’s 10 total 2016 starts, contributing to a 5.23 ERA and a BAA of .328.

If Zunino’s tinkering with his approach at the plate have made him a better hitter, the M’s could be in luck. His power upside far surpasses Iannetta’s, who is slashing a mere .211/.305/.342 in the batter’s box this season. He’s also never hit more than 18 home runs in a season, those coming back in 2008 with the Rockies.

Zunino hit 22 bombs in his sophomore campaign in 2014 in only 438 at-bats. In 79 Triple-A games this season, he hit .286 with an OPS of .898. Compared to the .227 he hit in 52 Triple-A games from 2013, it looks to be a step in the right direction.

If James Paxton continues his hot streak with Zunino catching for the Seattle Mariners, it will be tough to still give a majority of the starts to Iannetta still.

Even Felix Hernandez has better career numbers with Zunino catching him (2.67 ERA, 4.53 K:BB) than he does with other catchers currently on the Mariners’ roster. King Felix has a 3.21 ERA and a K:BB of 1.79 with Iannetta and a 3.30/2.84 split with Jesus Sucre (40-man roster).

The M’s are hopeful Zunino can still be their future at catcher within the organization. Evidence of this came in the moving of top prospect Alex Jackson to the outfield after drafting him sixth overall in 2014.

Next: M's Danny Hultzen set to call it a career

As James Paxton can attest to, his catching skills and quarterbacking of the defense are a valuable asset to Seattle. If Zunino starts to pile up the hits as well, the pieces should start to fall into place for the Mariners.

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