James Paxton traded to Red Sox

James Paxton traded to Red Sox

The Boston Red Sox have traded for Los Angeles Dodgers southpaw James Paxton, ESPN MLB insider Jeff Passan was among the first to report Friday.

Paxton, 35, was designated for assignment earlier this week. Instead, the Dodgers will be acquiring minor-league infielder Moises Bolivar, the Red Sox announced. As a result of the trade, Boston transferred right-handed starter Bryan Mata to the 60-day injured list to create a 40-man spot for Paxton.

Earlier this week, Rob Bradford of WEEI reported that “there is a strong likelihood” that Boston would be interested in Paxton after he was DFA’d.

Paxton pitched for the Red Sox in 2023 before signing a one-year deal with the Dodgers ahead of the 2024 season. He started 19 games for Boston, sporting a 4.50 ERA with a 4.68 FIP and 101 strikeouts in 96.0 innings.

He’s had a rougher start to 2024. He’s posted a 4.43 ERA and 4.96 FIP in 18 starts, though is sporting the highest walk-rate of his career (12.3 BB%) by nearly three percentage points. The Dodgers were 14-4 in Paxton’s starts, and he was one of their healthiest starters, being one of three pitchers to start more than eight games.

Though the southpaw’s underlying metrics suggest regression. According to Baseball Savant, Paxton grades in the 16th percentile or worse in expected ERA (15th percentile), average exit velocity (5th), chase rate (16th), strikeout rate (9th), walk rate (8th) and hard-hit rate (16th) allowed.

Andrew Bailey’s been a revelation for the Red Sox’s pitching staff this season, and this will be his new toy to potentially unleash. Paxton’s velocity is down all over the map from 2023. Perhaps they will cut down on his four-seamer, which allocates for 57.5 percent of his pitches, with more balance throughout the rest of his five-pitch mix? We’ll see!

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This is a breaking news story. Stay tuned for updates.

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