James Paxton
P | Bats/Throws: L/L | 6' 4" 212LBS | Age: 35
Draft: 2010 | Rd: 4, #132, Seattle Mariners
W L ERA G GS SV IP SO WHIP
2020 1 1 6.64 5 5 0 20.1 26 1.48
2021 0 0 6.75 1 1 0 1.1 2 0.75
2023 7 5 4.50 19 19 0 96 101 1.31
10 Seasons 64 38 3.69 156 156 0 850.2 932 1.22
G W-L ERA IP SO WHIP
2020 5 1-1 6.64 20.1 26 1.48
2021 1 0-0 6.75 1.1 2 0.75
2023 19 7-5 4.50 96 101 1.31
10 Seasons 156 64-38 3.69 850.2 932 1.22
MLB Percentile Rankings
Pitch Distribution

Statcast Statistics

Season Age Pitches Batted
Balls
Barrels Barrel % Barrel/PA Exit
Velocity
Max EV Launch
Angle
Sweet
Spot %
XBA XSLG WOBA XWOBA XWOBACON HardHit% K% BB% ERA xERA
2015 26 1111 212 15 7.1 5.1 90.1 116.3 8.7 27.4 .251 .421 .309 .329 .369 37.7 18.9 9.8 3.90 4.52
2016 27 1950 369 15 4.1 2.9 90.4 117.0 8.8 30.6 .247 .365 .306 .280 .345 41.2 22.9 4.7 3.79 3.26
2017 28 2268 356 10 2.8 1.8 87.2 112.2 12.3 31.7 .213 .306 .263 .256 .320 31.3 28.3 6.7 2.98 2.76
2018 29 2603 394 37 9.4 5.7 90.1 114.5 15.0 36.3 .220 .383 .287 .287 .395 42.1 32.2 6.5 3.76 3.45
2019 30 2665 390 29 7.4 4.6 89.2 113.4 17.6 35.1 .221 .379 .310 .291 .372 38.5 29.4 8.7 3.82 3.69
2020 31 356 56 6 10.7 6.7 90.7 109.2 18.4 37.5 .227 .442 .368 .315 .406 44.6 28.9 7.8 6.64 4.21
2021 32 24 2 0 0.0 0.0 66.2 81.8 14.5 0.0 .044 .046 .138 .170 .080 0.0 40.0 20.0 6.75 1.25
2023 34 1690 273 25 9.2 6.1 89.3 112.5 13.8 33.3 .229 .390 .328 .300 .360 39.9 24.6 8.0 4.50 3.77
Player 12667 2052 137 6.7 4.4 89.4 117.0 13.2 32.9 .227 .371 .300 .287 .361 38.7 27.1 7.3
MLB 6.9 4.7 88.4 122.4 12.2 33.1 .245 .406 .316 .315 .369 36.3 22.1 8.4
! Note: All figures in this table cover the period 2015-present.

Statcast Pitch Arsenal

Paxton relies on 5 pitches.
Four Seamer
(55.8%) ,
Knuckle Curve
(19.3%) ,
Cutter
(16.7%) ,
Changeup
(6.7%) ,
Sinker
(1.5%) ,


  •   
  •   
  •   

+ If Available Pitches Click to Video.


  •   
  •   
  •   
  •   
  •   
  •   

Pitch Tracking



Batted Ball Profile

Season GB % FB % LD % PU % Pull % Straight % Oppo % Weak % Topped % Under % Flare/Burner % Solid % Barrel % Barrel/PA
2015 49.5 23.1 22.6 4.7 36.3 38.7 25.0 1.9 38.7 23.1 22.2 5.7 7.1 5.1
2016 48.8 20.9 25.2 5.1 33.6 35.5 30.9 3.5 37.7 22.8 27.6 4.1 4.1 2.9
2017 45.8 20.5 25.8 7.9 34.0 32.9 33.1 3.9 34.6 25.8 27.0 5.1 2.8 1.8
2018 41.1 27.7 23.9 7.4 33.5 37.1 29.4 2.5 29.9 26.4 25.4 5.3 9.4 5.7
2019 40.3 25.4 22.6 11.8 37.9 34.6 27.4 4.4 25.6 29.0 25.4 7.4 7.4 4.6
2020 32.1 35.7 25.0 7.1 32.1 42.9 25.0 1.8 19.6 33.9 25.0 8.9 10.7 6.7
2021 50.0 0.0 0.0 50.0 0.0 0.0 100.0 50.0 50.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0
2023 42.9 26.0 23.4 7.7 37.7 31.1 31.1 2.9 30.8 27.5 23.8 5.9 9.2 6.1
Player 44.0 24.3 24.0 7.7 35.2 35.1 29.7 3.3 32.1 26.1 25.5 5.7 6.7 4.4
MLB 44.6 23.5 24.9 7.0 37.0 37.6 25.3 3.9 32.9 24.7 24.4 5.8 6.9 4.7
! Note: All figures in this table cover the period 2015-present.

Pitch Movement


How this works: Every pitch is affected by the forces of gravity, which means that every pitch drops on its way from the mound to the plate. These numbers are reported with gravity, which makes them larger and different than other pitch movement numbers you may have seen. Since gravity requires time, and slower pitches aren’t ‘better’ just because they have more time to move, the movement of a pitch is compared to ‘average’ movement by comparing it to other MLB pitch types within +/- 2 MPH and from within +/- 0.5 feet of extension and release.
Vertical Movement (inches) Horizontal Movement (inches)
Year Pitch Team Hand # MPH Inches of Drop vs Avg % vs Avg Inches of Break vs Avg % Break vs Avg
2023 Curveball BOS L 326 81.3 48.1 -3.0 -6 1.8 -5.9 -77
2023 Cutter BOS L 282 85.8 34.5 -3.8 -12 0.9 -2.3 -71
2023 Sinker BOS L 25 94.8 20.1 -0.9 -4 16.2 1.3 9
2023 Changeup BOS L 114 84.4 32.2 1.2 4 14.9 1.0 7
2023 4-Seam Fastball BOS L 943 95.2 15.4 -1.4 -10 11.8 4.9 70
2021 Cutter SEA L 7 86.1 32.5 -2.8 -9 1.1 -2.3 -69
2021 Curveball SEA L 1 78.1 52.2 -3.3 -6 5.0 -1.9 -27
2021 4-Seam Fastball SEA L 16 94.1 13.2 0.6 4 12.1 5.8 92
2020 Cutter NYY L 53 85.4 31.9 -1.5 -5 0.1 -2.9 -103
2020 Changeup NYY L 45 82.0 36.0 3.5 11 15.5 2.6 20
2020 4-Seam Fastball NYY L 202 92.1 18.3 -2.3 -14 14.1 6.9 96
2020 Curveball NYY L 56 79.7 50.3 -1.8 -3 5.2 -4.4 -46
2019 Changeup NYY L 32 86.2 29.3 0.1 0 11.9 -1.5 -11
2019 4-Seam Fastball NYY L 1,596 95.4 14.7 -0.2 -1 11.4 3.9 52
2019 Cutter NYY L 532 88.1 30.7 -3.4 -12 1.6 -0.2 -12
2019 Curveball NYY L 503 81.1 48.8 -3.3 -6 3.3 -4.7 -59
2018 Curveball SEA L 560 81.1 49.8 -2.2 -4 3.9 -3.5 -47
2018 Changeup SEA L 11 86.5 25.9 -3.6 -12 12.3 -1.0 -7
2018 4-Seam Fastball SEA L 1,650 95.4 14.7 -0.2 -1 11.9 4.6 64
2018 Cutter SEA L 375 89.0 29.5 -2.9 -11 0.0 -2.0 -101
2017 4-Seam Fastball SEA L 1,480 95.5 12.3 0.3 2 9.9 2.2 29
2017 Changeup SEA L 55 86.9 24.1 -2.1 -8 11.9 -1.3 -10
2017 Cutter SEA L 242 88.8 27.6 -2.6 -10 0.4 -1.3 -79
2017 Curveball SEA L 484 80.4 49.5 -1.4 -3 7.7 0.2 3
2016 4-Seam Fastball SEA L 1,152 97.5 16.9 -3.1 -23 12.7 5.5 76
2016 Cutter SEA L 328 90.3 30.9 -6.2 -25 0.6 -3.3 -125
2016 Changeup SEA L 153 89.4 28.2 1.7 6 12.7 0.6 5
2016 Sinker SEA L 68 91.3 28.5 6.2 28 9.6 -2.4 -20
2016 Curveball SEA L 235 82.5 53.2 3.4 7 5.6 -3.1 -36
2015 Sinker SEA L 43 93.7 28.6 7.7 37 11.8 -1.8 -13
2015 Cutter SEA L 43 89.9 26.6 -2.7 -11 4.0 -5.7 -324
2015 Changeup SEA L 128 86.5 27.7 -0.2 -1 9.4 -2.5 -21
2015 4-Seam Fastball SEA L 730 94.9 16.4 -2.3 -17 8.8 2.3 35
2015 Curveball SEA L 158 81.8 50.3 -0.9 -2 0.2 -8.8 -102
! Note: Years are in reverse order.
+ View Complete Pitch Movement Leaderboard

Run Values by Pitch Type

Year Pitch Type Team RV/100 Run Value Pitches % PA BA SLG wOBA Whiff% K% PutAway % xBA xSLG xwOBA Hard Hit %
2023 4-Seam Fastball -0.1 -1 943 55.8 234 .270 .507 .362 21.5 18.8 17.6 .262 .465 .343 43.5
2023 Curveball -0.2 -1 326 19.3 66 .230 .328 .305 38.2 33.3 20.8 .190 .283 .241 30.8
2023 Cutter -0.4 -1 282 16.7 82 .194 .431 .306 32.7 32.9 21.1 .163 .300 .256 34.8
2023 Changeup 0.0 0 114 6.7 19 .316 .421 .321 46.7 21.1 20.0 .214 .276 .212 26.7
2023 Sinker 7.6 2 25 1.5 10 .222 .222 .250 23.1 40.0 44.4 .282 .324 .309 80.0
2021 4-Seam Fastball 1.7 0 16 66.7 4 .000 .000 .175 14.3 25.0 20.0 .059 .062 .215 0.0
2021 Cutter 3.3 0 7 29.2 1 .000 .000 .000 60.0 100.0 50.0 -- -- .000 --
2021 Curveball 7.1 0 1 4.2 -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- --
2020 4-Seam Fastball -1.2 -2 202 56.7 53 .313 .625 .423 18.7 20.8 19.0 .251 .492 .347 48.6
2020 Curveball 1.6 1 56 15.7 16 .200 .267 .191 25.0 37.5 27.3 .162 .254 .168 20.0
2020 Cutter -6.7 -4 53 14.9 13 .385 .692 .458 41.4 38.5 18.5 .265 .525 .332 50.0
2020 Changeup -0.7 0 45 12.6 8 .000 .000 .263 68.4 50.0 26.7 .096 .301 .363 100.0
2019 4-Seam Fastball 0.1 2 1,596 59.9 347 .266 .479 .365 24.4 21.6 17.0 .246 .442 .335 40.3
2019 Cutter -0.7 -4 532 20.0 149 .254 .430 .309 43.3 40.3 25.3 .208 .347 .247 42.9
2019 Curveball 1.8 9 503 18.9 130 .178 .288 .242 37.4 38.5 23.9 .168 .261 .228 27.1
2019 Changeup 3.4 1 32 1.2 7 .000 .000 .100 53.8 14.3 20.0 .276 .305 .284 40.0
2018 4-Seam Fastball 0.5 8 1,650 63.4 389 .249 .428 .330 25.4 24.9 22.8 .244 .441 .333 44.7
2018 Curveball -0.3 -2 560 21.5 120 .235 .403 .282 39.9 34.2 24.4 .228 .378 .268 35.9
2018 Cutter 1.7 6 375 14.4 135 .144 .258 .182 36.9 51.9 26.4 .144 .232 .175 40.3
2018 Changeup -2.7 0 11 0.4 1 1.000 1.000 .900 50.0 0.0 -- .933 1.062 .866 0.0
2017 4-Seam Fastball 1.2 17 1,480 65.3 337 .248 .351 .300 23.3 18.7 17.6 .253 .357 .301 31.8
2017 Curveball 1.0 5 484 21.3 117 .162 .261 .220 40.8 48.7 26.9 .132 .200 .182 25.9
2017 Cutter 2.2 5 242 10.7 81 .195 .234 .214 37.3 43.2 24.1 .162 .213 .188 31.0
2017 Changeup -3.0 -2 55 2.4 14 .286 .714 .411 22.7 0.0 -- .296 .592 .368 42.9
! Note: Years are in reverse order.
! Note: To better align with other values, positive numbers (red) are good, and negative numbers (blue) are poor.
+ View Complete Run Value Leaderboard

Spin Direction

Year Pitch Type Pitches MPH Active Spin % Total Movement (In.) Spin-Based Observed Deviation
2023 Changeup 114 84.4 92 16.4 9:45 9:30 15
2023 Cutter 280 85.8 15 2.5 12:15 1:30 -75
2023 4-Seam Fastball 932 95.2 98 18.8 10:30 10:45 -15
2023 Knuckle Curve 326 81.3 67 9.3 4:45 5:45 -60
2023 Sinker 24 94.8 97 19.4 10:30 10:00 30
2021 4-Seam Fastball 16 94.1 99 21.4 10:45 10:45 0
2020 Changeup 43 82.0 83 16.7 9:30 9:15 15
2020 Cutter 45 85.5 35 4.8 10:45 12:00 -75
2020 4-Seam Fastball 197 92.1 99 19.9 10:15 10:30 -15
2020 Knuckle Curve 54 79.7 62 11.2 4:30 5:00 -30
! Note: This table is showing data from the PITCHER perspective.
+ View Complete Spin Direction Leaderboard

Swing/Take

Runs
Year Team PA Pitches Heart Shadow Chase Waste All
2013 89 367 5 4 -2 -1 6
2014 301 1,178 8 10 -5 -3 10
2015 295 1,109 12 4 -8 -5 3
2016 508 1,940 2 7 -8 -3 -3
2017 549 2,261 23 15 -7 -6 26
2018 645 2,598 -1 24 -5 -6 12
2019 691 2,912 6 30 -17 -10 10
2020 90 356 -3 1 -2 -1 -5
2023 411 1,690 9 7 -11 -5 0
+ View Complete Swing/Take Leaderboard

Plate Discipline

Season Pitches Zone % Zone Swing % Zone Contact % Chase % Chase Contact % Edge % 1st Pitch Strike % Swing % Whiff % Meatball % Meatball Swing %
2015 1,111 47.6 62.1 87.2 21.8 62.2 43.2 53.5 41.0 19.1 7.7 61.6
2016 1,950 53.9 66.6 82.3 30.5 53.8 46.0 62.4 49.8 25.5 7.6 74.1
2017 2,268 53.3 67.3 77.8 26.5 53.6 43.7 64.9 48.2 28.2 8.4 75.9
2018 2,603 54.4 70.1 78.3 32.0 47.2 43.4 66.2 52.6 30.0 9.0 78.1
2019 2,665 48.4 70.8 77.3 30.4 51.0 44.6 65.7 49.9 30.7 6.0 81.8
2020 356 49.2 69.7 82.0 33.7 50.8 36.5 68.9 51.4 28.4 9.0 68.8
2021 24 37.5 66.7 83.3 40.0 50.0 70.8 100.0 50.0 33.3 0.0 --
2023 1,690 50.1 70.7 81.1 29.3 51.0 42.5 59.9 50.0 27.5 7.3 78.0
Player 12,667 51.5 68.6 79.8 29.2 51.8 43.8 63.4 49.4 28.0 7.7 75.9
MLB 48.6 67.0 82.0 28.5 58.0 42.6 60.9 47.1 24.8 7.3 76.1
! Note: All figures in this table cover the period 2015-present.

Percentile Rankings

Year xwOBA /
xERA
xBA xSLG xISO xOBP Brl Brl% EV Hard
Hit%
K% BB% Whiff% Chase
Rate
FB
Velo
FB
Spin
CB
Spin
Extension
2015 21 37 25 20 26 47 12 4 10 39 13 21 1 79 16 7 46
2016 82 49 71 81 84 49 83 5 4 65 92 70 70 96 27 6 60
2017 93 85 93 97 91 66 96 49 65 85 77 78 37 86 62 5 75
2018 72 73 54 37 89 8 6 7 4 93 79 80 90 86 66 1 54
2019 75 75 67 61 78 23 41 34 33 83 39 82 64 81 54 3 70
2020 50 62 31 17 71 46 13 12 14 76 60 62 91 32 44 9 63
2023 66 70 59 49 75 35 27 41 44 58 57 62 56 71 41 1 79
+ View Complete Percentile Rankings Leaderboard

Expected Home Runs

Year Team Avg HR Trot Actual HR xHR HR-xHR Doubters Mostly Gone No Doubters No Doubter %
2016 21.3 9 10.2 -1 7 9 3 33.3
2017 22.9 9 10.1 -1 6 9 4 44.4
2018 22.8 23 25.2 -2 10 18 11 47.8
2019 22.1 25 22.8 2 10 13 13 52.0
2020 25.0 4 4.1 0 2 3 2 50.0
2023 23.2 18 17.5 1 3 16 6 33.3
Player 22.7 88 89.9 -2 38 68 39 44.3

Expected Home Runs by Park

Year HR
2016 9 12 7 11 10 9 12 9 8 6 11 13 11 9 8 11 5 8 12 13 11 9 13 14 7 9 11 15 13 12 8
2017 9 11 9 11 11 8 14 10 9 6 9 14 7 11 9 11 8 7 13 10 12 9 14 12 9 7 10 13 11 10 8
2018 23 33 20 27 25 25 28 27 20 18 23 31 25 23 25 27 25 25 28 28 27 22 30 29 24 20 21 26 27 25 23
2019 25 24 19 26 24 24 24 24 21 17 19 28 26 21 23 22 17 19 22 25 24 23 29 26 21 19 22 29 26 22 17
2020 4 4 4 5 3 5 4 5 4 2 3 6 4 4 3 4 4 4 4 5 5 3 6 4 3 3 5 5 5 3 3
2023 18 11 17 12 22 18 21 17 19 12 18 19 16 14 20 19 19 13 19 20 15 21 23 22 12 12 21 18 19 19 16
Player 88 95 76 92 95 89 103 92 81 61 83 111 89 82 88 94 78 76 98 101 94 87 115 107 76 70 90 106 101 91 75
! Note: This tells how many of this player's home runs would have been out of other stadiums. This accounts for different wall heights, distances and environmental effects. For these purposes, the 2020 Blue Jays home field was still Rogers Centre, not Sahlen Field.
+View Complete Expected Home Runs Leaderboard

Year to Year Changes

Metric 2015 2016 +/-   2017 +/-   2018 +/-   2019 +/-   2020 +/-   2021 +/-  
Fastball Velocity 94.6 95.7 1.1 94.6 -1.1 94.2 -0.4 93.6 -0.6 90.7 -2.9 91.7 1.0
Offspeed Velocity 86.5 89.4 2.9 86.9 -2.5 86.5 -0.4 86.2 -0.3 82.0 -4.2 0.0 0.0
Breaking Velocity 81.8 82.5 0.7 80.4 -2.1 81.1 0.7 81.1 0.0 79.7 -1.4 78.1 -1.6
Exit Velocity 90.1 90.4 0.3 87.2 -3.2 90.1 2.9 89.2 -0.9 90.7 1.5 66.2 -24.5
Launch Angle 8.7 8.8 0.1 12.3 3.5 15.0 2.7 17.6 2.6 18.4 0.8 14.5 -3.9
Barrel % 7.1 4.1 -3.0 2.8 -1.3 9.4 6.6 7.4 -2.0 10.7 3.3 0.0 -10.7
Hard Hit % 37.7 41.2 3.5 31.3 -9.9 42.1 10.8 38.5 -3.6 44.6 6.1 0.0 -44.6
Sweet Spot % 27.4 30.6 3.2 31.7 1.1 36.3 4.6 35.1 -1.2 37.5 2.4 0.0 -37.5
xBA .251 .247 -0.004 .213 -0.034 .220 0.007 .221 0.001 .227 0.006 .044 -0.183
BA .253 .279 0.026 .223 -0.056 .224 0.001 .242 0.018 .284 0.042 .000 -0.284
xwOBA .329 .280 -0.049 .256 -0.024 .287 0.031 .291 0.004 .315 0.024 .170 -0.145
wOBA .309 .306 -0.003 .263 -0.043 .287 0.024 .310 0.023 .368 0.058 .138 -0.230
xSLG .421 .365 -0.056 .306 -0.059 .383 0.077 .379 -0.004 .442 0.063 .046 -0.396
SLG .381 .406 0.025 .324 -0.082 .386 0.062 .423 0.037 .531 0.108 .000 -0.531
K% 18.9 22.9 4.0 28.3 5.4 32.2 3.9 29.4 -2.8 28.9 -0.5 40.0 11.1
BB% 9.8 4.7 -5.1 6.7 2.0 6.5 -0.2 8.7 2.2 7.8 -0.9 20.0 12.2
Swing % 41.0 49.8 8.8 48.2 -1.6 52.6 4.4 49.9 -2.7 51.4 1.5 50.0 -1.4
Whiff% 19.1 25.5 6.4 28.2 2.7 30.0 1.8 30.7 0.7 28.4 -2.3 33.3 4.9
In Zone % 47.6 53.9 6.3 53.3 -0.6 54.4 1.1 48.4 -6.0 49.2 0.8 37.5 -11.7
Out of Zone % 52.4 46.1 -6.3 46.7 0.6 45.6 -1.1 51.6 6.0 50.8 -0.8 62.5 11.7
Out of Zone Swing % 21.8 30.5 8.7 26.5 -4.0 32.0 5.5 30.4 -1.6 33.7 3.3 40.0 6.3
First Pitch Swing % 22.2 29.2 7.0 27.2 -2.0 31.9 4.7 32.4 0.5 34.4 2.0 60.0 25.6
First Pitch Strike % 53.5 62.4 8.9 64.9 2.5 66.2 1.3 65.7 -0.5 68.9 3.2 100.0 31.1
+ View Complete Year to Year Changes Leaderboard

Statcast Fielder Positioning

vs RHHvs LHH
YearAlignment TypePAwOBAPATotal%PATotal%
2016 Shifts 506 .307 425 15 3.5 81 34 42.0
2017 Shifts 550 .263 459 3 0.7 91 41 45.1
2018 Shifts 645 .287 533 8 1.5 112 21 18.8
2019 Shifts 633 .310 479 69 14.4 154 80 51.9
2020 Shifts 89 .372 67 12 17.9 22 13 59.1
2021 Shifts 5 .138 4 0 0.0 1 0 0.0
2023 Shades 411 .328 316 6 1.9 95 44 46.3
! Note: Shifts are through the 2022 season, Shaded starting from the 2023 season, Shift: three or more infielders are on the same side of second base, Shade: positioned outside of their typical responsible slices of the field.
Learn more about how positioning is defined here

Pitch Tempo

Bases EmptyRunners On Base
SeasonTeamPitchesTempoFast %Slow %PitchesTempoFast %Slow %
2013 132 15.3 43.2% 0.0% 43 20.5 0.0% 9.3%
2014 356 15.1 48.6% 1.4% 211 21.9 0.9% 8.1%
2015 359 15.3 48.7% 1.4% 187 22.1 4.3% 12.8%
2016 563 15.6 42.3% 2.3% 299 21.5 9.0% 11.4%
2017 686 15.1 46.9% 0.6% 319 21.0 0.3% 5.0%
2018 736 15.2 46.7% 0.3% 343 20.5 2.6% 5.0%
2019 760 16.5 29.7% 0.5% 393 23.1 0.0% 9.2%
2020 105 17.0 21.0% 1.0% 38 23.1 0.0% 5.3%
2021 7 19.2 14.3% 0.0% 2 23.4 0.0% 0.0%
2023 473 14.0 73.4% 0.2% 254 18.7 0.8% 0.8%
+ View Complete Pitch Tempo Leaderboard

Pitch Distribution