But not NECESSARY. As long as Paxton has two very good pitches - and he does - then the hold up in getting him to the bigs shouldn't be waiting for a 3rd pitch.
Do I think a change would help him? Sure. With a curve like his, it'll cause him trouble when he can't keep it in the zone and "all" he's got is that 93-95 mph fastball.
And the Mariners know that it would be great to give him a 3rd weapon so that he can still be really effective when one isn't working that night.
I guess it's lucky for us that he's already adding one to the arsenal successfully.
It means the Ms scouts who believe you can't be a two-pitch pitcher in the bigs will have to step back a bit. I think Paxton will be fine with 2 pitches and great with three. I don't think having two dominant pitches is a reason to hold him back, though. It's funny to me that just about the only pitcher who had a better season involving AA was a guy named Moore who just finished pitching game one of a playoff series as a rookie.
Nobody's telling HIM that his okay changeup should keep him in the minors because it's not possible to win with serious hit and a fall-off-the-table curveball.
Looking forward to Spring Training with a vengeance and seeing if our next dominant pitcher can convince the Mariners that he belongs in the same conversation with Moore.
~G
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