Fastball

Former New York Yankees Pitcher, Current Red Sox Pitcher Expected to Retire

James Paxton, who spent time with both the New York Yankees and the Boston Red Sox, is expected to hang 'em up after this season.

Brady Farkas

Boston Red Sox starting pitcher James Paxton (65) delivers a pitch in the first inning the Kansas City Royals at Kauffman Stadium on Aug 5.
Boston Red Sox starting pitcher James Paxton (65) delivers a pitch in the first inning the Kansas City Royals at Kauffman Stadium on Aug 5. / Peter Aiken-Imagn Images
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Former Seattle Mariners, New York Yankees, Boston Red Sox and Los Angeles Dodgers pitcher James Paxton is expected to retire after the season, according to Rob Bradford of WEEI in Boston.

James Paxton just told me he is planning on retiring after this season. Interview coming on the @BBIsntBoring podcast

Though not a final decision, the fact that Paxton is talking about it publicly indicates that he's at peace with what's likely coming. It's still somewhat surprising to see Paxton hang 'em up, considering he's 35 years old and likely has a few more years in him if he wants it.

That said, injuries have taken their toll on the big lefty. He made only five starts in the pandemic-shortened 2020 season (20.1 innings) then underwent Tommy John surgery after just one start in 2021. He signed with the Red Sox for 2022 but missed the entire season and then came back for 19 starts in 2023. He signed with the Dodgers this past offseason, making 18 starts before getting traded back to Boston.

He was hurt in his third start back. It was a lower leg injury in the Achilles' area.

Lifetime, Paxton is 73-41 with a 3.77 ERA. He threw a no-hitter as a member of the Mariners and won double-digit games in three different seasons. He won a career-high 15 games with the Yankees back in 2021. The Yankees had acquired him for top pitching prospect Justus Sheffield at that point.

With Boston, he was 8-6 over his parts of two years.

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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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