You're going to want to keep an eye on the radar gun when James Paxton takes the mound for the Yankees in Thursday's 1 p.m. series finale against the Rays. He's expecting to put higher numbers up on it than he has thus far.
Paxton has been doing a lot of work on the mechanics of his delivery. Earlier this season in doing video work with pitching coach Matt Blake _ comparing his motion to the one he had last season _ they found that he was leaning as he strode forward and the adjustment was to try to be more upright. They also have been looking at the angle of his hips as he gets ready to release the ball.
"We're making the positive steps towards where I want to be," Paxton said Wednesday. "I feel really close ... The thing that we're working on this week I think is where some power is hiding. So I just need to time that up in my delivery and once I get that clicking, I think that I should get a jump in velocity as well."
Paxton's fastball velocity has been averaging around 92 mph. He has thrown it 94-96 in past seasons.
It could be one of the reasons he hasn't been as crisp as he was in going 15-6 last season. Paxton is 1-1 with an unsightly 7.04 ERA.
Paxton underwent back surgery in early February, a microscopic lumbar discectomy with removal of a peridiscal cyst. If spring training hadn't been halted by the COVID-19 pandemic, Paxton would have been working with the Yankees' staff as he recovered. Instead, he had to work on his own.
"Definitely in my circumstances, coming back from the surgery and everything, I feel like there were some adjustments to make," he said, "and I feel like if it was a regular spring training, we'd be making those adjustments throughout spring training."
"I think it probably would have gone a little bit faster had I had someone watching me throw as I was coming back from the surgery," he added. "My bullpens and everything, it would have just gone a lot quicker on making those adjustments from the jump."
Working on his own, Paxton thinks he might have picked up "bad habits" that are getting fixed now. "It's just kind of the way it is this year in 2020."
Summer camp opened about seven weeks ago and so Paxton now has been with Blake for about the time he might have during a standard spring training.
"I think we're making the right moves now," Paxton said. "Now it's just about timing them up and everything clicking at the right time."
Another part of the issue is that Paxton has been forced to do all the adjustments _ make all the changes to his delivery _ while the season is going on. There were only three exhibition games before the season started, not an entire spring training.
"Well it's been really helpful in my bullpen sessions being able to track my pitches and track the angles and the pitch shapes and everything just looking for those similarities from) last year," he said. "I feel like we're making progress each time. It's a process.
"So I'm feeling good about it, and I feel like I am ready to take more steps forward."