New York Yankees: James Paxton Needs an Opener

The New York Yankees may want to rethink James Paxton’s role

“The opener” has become one of baseball’s most intriguing additions to the game over the past two years. The trend seemed to start with the Rays last year with a relief pitcher throwing the first inning followed by (either) a starter/”bulk guy” or another reliever in what is described as a “bullpen game” when relievers manage the full 9-innings.

Since the Rays implemented this strategy, we’ve seen more than half the league follow in their footsteps and embrace the change to an ever-fluid game. What makes this strategy so compelling is that we can see the trajectory of pitching as we look towards the future.

Every team wants their best guy at the end of a game to close out a win. What’s to stop a team like the Astros from throwing out a reliever or two for the first 2-3 innings and finishing the last 6-7 with a Justin Verlander or a Gerrit Cole? What about guys like Chris Sale? Or Jacob deGrom? or Max Scherzer? What if we, instead of seeing these guys at the start of games, we saw them finish out the last 6-7 innings with more energy in those last couple of frames? It’s sort of like a “start,” the innings are just pushed around.

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Well, there’s a whole argument to be made in opposition to that because starting pitchers have routines and having to come out of the bullpen in the middle of a game will break that routine- completely understandable. But could those routines be rearranged and starting pitchers adapt to new climates? It’s a fascinating conversation to have………but not right now.

The real reason for this article is that if one guy could use an “opener” in this game, it would be one James Paxton of the New York Yankees.

Paxton has allowed 24 earned runs in 20 first-innings over the course of his starts this year. That’s an 10.80 ERA with almost half of his total earned runs this year (50) coming in that first inning. That’s probably the best argument for trotting out an opener that there is. The guy simply has a problem this year in the first inning, which happens. It’s not indicative that he’s a bad pitcher. It’s not indicative the his “stuff” is fading. It’s just one of those crazy things in the game of baseball.

So, the way to fix that is to break the chain and try something new. Why not a Chad Green or Jonathan Holder in that first inning? No, this doesn’t mean that Paxton will come out strong in the 2nd inning and see a major improvement in his numbers (because technically, it’s still “his” first inning of work), but it couldn’t hurt to at least try and see if a relief guy can come out and sit down those 1-4 hitters to set the tone.

We know Paxton can rack up 9 Ks a-game at any point in time. We know his stuff is still mid-to-upper 90s with devastating breaking pitches. He just has to get over that first inning hump. And if he can, watch his ERA plummet as the New York Yankees benefit.