Breaking: The sensational star player for the Mariners has announced he will be retiring at the conclusion of the season.
A former pitcher for the Seattle Mariners who was among the best in team history is retiring. Farewell to “The Big Maple.”
Veteran left-hander James Paxton announced to the Baseball Isn’t Boring podcast on Wednesday that he will retire following the 2024 campaign.
Mariners will play the top pitching prospect for the Rangers in his debut.
It’s likely that Paxton, 35, has thrown his final pitch in the major leagues. He was traded by the Los Angeles Dodgers to the Boston Red Sox in the middle of the season. Due to a partly torn calf, Paxton is placed on the 60-day injured list and won’t be able to play again until the postseason. With four games remaining in the American League’s last wild card as of Wednesday, the Red Sox are currently outsiders in the playoff race.
The Seattle Mariners, where Paxton played most of his career, are tied with Boston in the standings.
After being chosen by Seattle in the fourth round of the 2010 MLB Draft out of the University of Kentucky, Paxton was raised in the Mariners’ farm system. The 6-foot-4, 212-pound southpaw was raised in Ladner, British Columbia, which is located just over the Canadian border and less than three hours’ drive from Seattle.
Paxton was among the best starting pitchers in MLB for a while while he was with the Mariners, especially from 2016 to 2018. In 2017, he made 24 starts and finished with a 2.98 ERA, 1.103 WHIP, and 156 strikeouts, which was his greatest season to date. However, that may have been in 2018, when he recorded a 3.76 ERA, 1.098 WHIP, 208 strikeouts, tied for the league lead with two complete games and one shutout, and started 28 games. That shutout stands out in particular. Paxton became the first and, thus far, the only pitcher from Canada to throw a no-hitter in his native land when he did so against the Blue Jays in Toronto.
Perhaps the most iconic moment of Paxton’s career was when he flashed his Canadian maple leaf tattoo after shutting out the Blue Jays, but at least a close second was when, just a month before, an eagle perched itself on him during opening day ceremonies in Minnesota.
After the 2018 season, the M’s traded Paxton to the Yankees. He played for New York for two seasons before making a short trip back to Seattle in 2021, which tragically ended after just 1 1/3 innings because to a torn UCL that necessitated Tommy John surgery.
After making 18 starts for the Dodgers in 2023, Paxton was dealt back to the Red Sox, where he made three starts before to sustaining a calf injury. Paxton made his big league comeback with Boston in 2023.
In Mariners history, Paxton owns the top FIP (fielding independent pitching) mark at 3.13 and is tied for the highest lifetime ERA among starting pitchers at 3.42 with Félix Hernández, Randy Johnson, and Hisashi Iwakuma. In addition, he ranks third in WHIP (1.186) and second in strikeouts per nine innings (9.545).
