James Paxton (SP, SEA) - Waiver Wire Pickups

BALLER MOVE: Stash in Deep Leagues

ANALYSIS: James Paxton and Taijuan Walker were two of the highly touted Mariners' pitching prospects coming into the year. Taijuan is the one people are more familiar with since he has pitched in the majors more recently than Paxton, but Paxton is the one with more upside in my opinion, at least in the short term. The main knock against Taijuan has been that he has great stuff, but not so great command. The same can not be said of Paxton. His stuff may not be as good as Taijuan's, but he is a much more polished pitched than Taijuan at this point in their careers. Before hitting the DL, Paxton pitched to a 2.25 ERA, .67 WHIP, .146 AVG against, and 9.75 K/9. Granted that was only in two starts, but those are ace level numbers. It's also not totally unprecedented because in another stint with the Major League team last year he pitched to a 1.50 ERA, .92 WHIP, .172 AVG against, and 7.88 K/9. So far, the numbers he has put up in the majors have actually been better than anything he has done in the minors and he has shown better control too. The thing to watch with Paxton is that he is coming off a shoulder injury, but in his most recent rehab start he felt great and said his pitches were all coming out well. He's worth a DL stash in all leagues because his upside is tremendous.