Paxton First Start

While on a recent trip to Peoria Arizona thanks to Delta TV covering training camp along with Justin and Chad we had the opportunity to get to know James, his Family and his Mariners Family at time one on one.

The interviews are for sports show that Chad and I host and Justin produces –  “The Locker Room” shown exclusively on Delta TV.

He is a young Canadian that welcomes his addition to the roster and is thankful for each day he is in the majors, doing what he loves to do – PITCH.

For James getting his first start of the 2014 MLB is huge and it’s not that he wants everyone, but this one officially get’s the season underway for the youngster who calls Ladner home.

The Mariners first road trip of the season took them to sunny California where they swept the LA Angles in three straight games under new manager Lloyd McClendon.

Paxton threw 99 pitches in only his fifth big league start and struck out nine, including Josh Hamilton in all three times he came to the plate.

He pitched seven perfect scoreless innings of two-hit ball  that saw newly acquired Robinson Cano drive in his first official run for the Mariners capping off the 8-2 victory over the Angels.

Paxton is now only the second pitcher in the history of the Mariners winning four of his first five big league starts with the other being Michael Pineda, who pulled it in 2011.

James is a left-handed pitcher who managed to pull off an impressive 1.50 ERA in his four starts this past September while going 3-0.

Young Paxton is in his first full season as a starter for the Mariners and is thrilled to be playing this close to home.

James was drafted by the Seattle in the fourth round of the MLB entry draft and signed with the Mariners on March 4/11.

He was invited to attend the Mariners’ main Spring Training Camp in 2012, but did not make the opening day roster for the club.

He was then sent to play in the Class AA Southern league Jackson Generals and in 2013 he played for the Tacoma Rainiers of the AAA Pacific Coast League.

In early September/13, he was promoted to the major’s and got his first major league appearance September 7.

Here he pitched against Tampa Bay and earned the win as the Mariners won 6–2.

The three game series saw the Mariners outscore the Angels 26-8 as well as sweep the season-opening series for only the second time in the 38-year history of the team.

Prior to this they started out 6-0 in 1985 against Oakland and Minnesota before losing 12 of their next 13.

To the shock of many this was the first time the Angels were swept in a three-game series to start a season, with the last being 1992, by the Chicago White Sox at Anaheim.

Seattle scored 18 of their runs (in this series) with two outs, while Cano was 5-11 in his debut as a Mariner as well as getting two intentional walks.

Cano left the Yankees after nine seasons and signed a 10-year, $240 million free agent contract and is a welcome addition to the roster.

Strike up the band – James is home!