James Paxton Pitcher Family
Q. Mojo axed about the Pitcher Family.
A. Bill James actually called a family here, the "Blow 'Em Away Lefties," led by Randy Johnson and Lefty Grove. James was dividing up the 100 best pitchers of all time into templates.
Steve Carlton was in this family ... you don't have to hit 100.2 MPH to be a lefty who leads the league in strikeouts. Mark Langston was in this group, though not at the head of it, of course.
What general lessons were there to be learned from this template? I forget what Bill said, but ... Unit, Sandy Koufax, a bunch of these guys were physically awkward. Fielding errors, horrible batting, etc. Obviously Koufax and Unit needed a few years to master their high-powered motions.
Patience is key! And upside is vast.
Q. OK. Any comps you have a real inkling for?
A. Physically speaking, I fancy Chuck Finley, the old Angels' pitcher... also a very overhand delivery, pitched tall.
At age 25, he ran a season with 7 wins, 15 losses, and a 111:82 control ratio ... took him a couple-three years to really lock in, as it did Gonzalez, Mulder, and most of these lefty kids.
Chuck was another smooth power lefty who ran 3,000+ innings in Da Big Leagues, handled 230-250 innings without breaking a sweat... five all-star teams.
.................
Physically Paxton reminds of Finley. In terms of stuff? Pick anybody you want. Sabathia, Price, Kershaw, our guy has that kinda arm. There isn't any reason in the world that Paxton can't equal Chris Sale, and then some. What's Sale got that Paxton doesn't?
If James Paxton turns out, in 2015, to be only Derek Holland or Matt Harrison, I'm going to jump the rail, run out there, and kick Paxton right in the can.
An overhand LHP with an overwhelming fastball, a true yellow hammer and an extreme overhand delivery ... honestly, you think of Mulder and Kershaw.
Mark Mulder also had the real heavy fastball. Here is his baseball card: he had five season's worth of 17-8, 3.45 performance before Billy Beane sprayed the aerosol can dry and chucked it over the fence into the Cardinals' yard.
I'm going to plump for Kershaw as the best pairing. Kershaw's mechanics and control are still iffy. And Paxton has that 10K look about him. It says here that Paxton is going to wind up being about --- > swings and misses.
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Q. What, is Lefty Grove not available there for ya, Dr. D.
A. I'm more excited about Paxton than Taijuan, even though objectively speaking Taijuan is the greater asset. K-Pax is juuuuuuuust that bit of command away from being Michael Pineda vL.0. Even better than Pineda.
Shame on us for comparing Erasmo Ramirez to these two athletes. Sometimes the deduction process around here is rather suspect.
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But ... yes, we know, LrKrBoi29. Paxton could fail. Or get hurt. So could have Pineda... oops. So could Felix. Beginning next start.... actually, beginning last start, now that we think about it.
No guarantees with pitchers, up to and including Sabathia, Dickey, and Lincecum. That doesn't mean I wouldn't like to have Matt Moore join my baseball team. And this winter, 29 GM's will be interested in having Taijuan and K-PAX join theirs. Let's hope it isn't for Kate Upton.
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Q. Geoff Baker says that Zduriencik needs a few starts from guys before he trades them this winter.
A. Think real hard about those 3,000 innings. James Paxton is liable to be pitching well in 10 years. Trade him, but keep in mind he's liable to be on the 2025 All-Star team. The Mariner Hall of Fame doesn't stack up that well to the Cardinals'.
BABVA,
Dr. D