LOS ANGELES — The Dodgers’ cluster of pitching injuries has left behind a not-so-fun fact of sorts. The club has only had two starters make each of their scheduled turns through the starting rotation — Gavin Stone, who has taken off as a rookie after being far from a lock for the Opening Day rotation, and James Paxton, a veteran maligned for his injury history.
Paxton’s stability was a positive surprise in what has been a struggle for the Dodgers to find innings. It was not enough to keep him on the roster.
The Dodgers are designating the 35-year-old left-hander for assignment, the team announced Monday. In a corresponding move, the team selected the contract of right-handed pitching prospect River Ryan.
The Dodgers selected the contract of RHP River Ryan and designated LHP James Paxton for assignment.
— Los Angeles Dodgers (@Dodgers) July 22, 2024
The Dodgers will have 10 days to pass Paxton through waivers or find a trade partner for him ahead of the July 30 trade deadline, perhaps hoping to generate some roster flexibility while retaining hope they could fetch something for him from a pitching-starved club. Los Angeles did something similar a year ago, using Noah Syndergaard’s contract to acquire Amed Rosario from the Cleveland Guardians.
Los Angeles needed a 40-man and active roster spot to select the contract of Ryan, who is expected to make his major-league debut Monday against the San Francisco Giants. The club will need to clear two more active roster spots and at least one 40-man roster spot this week as they welcome Tyler Glasnow and Clayton Kershaw back to the rotation from the injured list.
Paxton’s injury history remained front of mind even as the Dodgers closed in on an agreement with him this winter, with the club hoping to throw as many bodies at their rotation as possible to override availability concerns. Concerns about Paxton’s right knee, which cut his 2023 season short, caused the two sides to amend the guarantee on his one-year deal from $11 million to $7 million, with bonuses for making the Opening Day roster (which he hit for $2 million) and games started — Paxton has already maxed out those bonuses, worth an additional $4 million.
The 18 starts he did make were fraught with inconsistency. He posted an 8-2 record, yet had a 4.43 ERA and 4.97 FIP. Among pitchers with at least 80 innings pitched this season, only four people struck out batters at a lower rate than Paxton’s 16.4 percent.
His mechanics frustrated him. His arsenal was a mystery, as he all but mothballed his signature cutter and saw his average fastball velocity drip from 95.2 mph in 2023 to 93.2 mph this season.
When he did throw a fastball at 96.1 mph, a season-best, in his final start Sunday, he showed surprise.“I guess I had to start grunting to throw harder, I’m not sure,” he quipped after delivering five innings of two-run ball and recording the win against the Boston Red Sox.
He repeatedly expressed open frustration about what his body was no longer able to do after undergoing Tommy John surgery in 2021 and was candid about trying to figure out a new way to find success on the mound.
“I really don’t know what to expect when I take the ball out there,” Paxton said. “I’m out there giving everything I’ve got and some days I have more than others. I think that’s kind of where the inconsistency is coming from.”
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(Photo: Jayne Kamin-Oncea / Getty Images)
