Ladner’s James Paxton at the young age of 28 is no stranger to the diamond nor does he intend to be now or in the near future as he continued his winning ways by throwing six scoreless innings allowing two hits and a walk.

His training routine is relentless throughout the off-season and he for one know’s it’s a long season of ball.

It is the intention of the Mariners that Paxton can be the key in the rotation for the Mariners if he continues to increase his velocity following a change to his style last season.

At the midway point of last season James managed to lower his arm slot somewhat noticing that he is able to obtain an additional 4-5 mph on his fastball pitch.

Interesting enough he used this on his 100th pitch which was a 96-mph fastball setting up a ground out for Carlos Beltran in a 13 inning game.

Following the game he mentioned ” When [manager Scott Servais] came up and told me I was done because I’d thrown 100 pitches, I said, ‘Really?’ I didn’t know. But it felt great. I felt strong all the way through. I’m ready for the next one already.”

Paxton’s biggest concern was in the third when he had two out and threw a low ball in the dirt that eluded catcher Mike Zunino allowing George Springer to get to first.

This was followed by a double by Bregman with a double to left, but Paxton managed to strike

Manager Scott Servais mentioned to the media “He (James) threw the ball outstanding and really controlled the game. He dominated when he was out there. That was a solid outing from him and he’ll continue to build on that. We’re going to need him as we go along.”

Look for more improvement from James this season as the Mariners pitching coach is Mel Stottlemyre who has an impressive record of his own.