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Boston Red Sox Reveal Return Date For Starting Pitcher James Paxton

The Boston Red Sox are bringing back 'Big Maple' this week and he will make his season debut on Friday night. Paxton hasn't pitched in a game since 2021.

Brady Farkas

Boston Red Sox Reveal Return Date For Starting Pitcher James Paxton
Boston Red Sox Reveal Return Date For Starting Pitcher James Paxton /
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The Boston Red Sox will welcome starting pitcher James Paxton to the starting rotation on Friday night. He will make his season debut that night as the Red Sox take on the St. Louis Cardinals.

Red Sox Insider Tyler Milliken of 98.5 The Sports Hub in Boston relayed the information per an initial report from Chris Cotillo of MassLive.com.

Not only will it be Paxton's season debut, it will also be his team debut. He was in the organization a year ago but missed the entire season recovering from Tommy John surgery and other ailments.

Injuries have marred the last several years of Paxton's career. He's thrown just 21.2 innings in the last three years. When healthy, he's been an excellent pitcher. He's 57-33 in his career with the Seattle Mariners and New York Yankees. He owns a lifetime 3.59 ERA and a 9.9 k/9. He also threw a no-hitter for Seattle.

Paxton's return will complicate things in the rotation for the Red Sox. Could they send down highly-valued prospect Brayan Bello to Triple-A? Could they move Nick Pivetta to the bullpen, who excelled in that role in the 2021 playoffs -- and who currently owns a 6.23 ERA in seven starts?

And the questions will get even tougher eventually when Garrett Whitlock returns from injury. He's currently on the injured list with elbow neuritis.

At the time of this posting, the Red Sox are trailing the Braves 8-2 in the sixth inning. Pivetta allowed seven earned runs in four innings.

The two teams will play on Wednesday at 7:20 p.m. ET.

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Brady Farkas
BRADY FARKAS

Brady Farkas is a baseball writer for Fastball on Sports Illustrated/FanNation and the host of 'The Payoff Pitch' podcast which can be found on Apple Podcasts and Spotify. Videos on baseball also posted to YouTube. Brady has spent nearly a decade in sports talk radio and is a graduate of Oswego State University. You can follow him on Twitter @WDEVRadioBrady. 

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