Should the Seattle Mariners give James Paxton a call?

On Wednesday, the Seattle Mariners more or less confirmed that they’ll be down one of their starting pitchers to open the season, as Bryce Miller didn’t feel good enough to throw his first planned bullpen since encountering inflammation in his left oblique late last month.

Seattle Mariners’ Bryce Miller stops short of throwing planned bullpen

On the same day, a blast from the Mariners’ past turned some heads in the World Baseball Classic: James Paxton threw 2 2/3 scoreless innings with six strikeouts, giving Canada a crucial outing that played a big part in its 7-2 victory over Cuba that clinched the country’s first trip to the WBC quarterfinals in the 20-year history of the event.

See where I’m going here? There’s a hole in Seattle’s rotation that the big lefty from Ladner just might fit right into.

The 37-year-old Paxton is legitimately retired, having hung up his cleats after the 2024 season. But he hasn’t looked retired in this WBC, which is his first.

Paxton dialed up his fastball as high as 96.5 mph on Wednesday, and he’s been using his full complement of pitches, breaking out a sinker, cutter and that big curveball that is so familiar to M’s fans.

Not only that, but Paxton is pretty well stretched out, having thrown 49 pitches in each of his two appearances out of the bullpen for Canada. Actually, he was quite hilariously taken out both times in the middle of a plate appearance because manager Ernie Whitt wanted to prevent Paxton from hitting the 50-pitch limit that would then require him to sit four days before he pitched in another game, therefore keeping him available to pitch again after just one day of rest. By the way, that means you may see Paxton pitch for Canada in Friday’s huge quarterfinal game against Cal Raleigh and Team USA at Houston’s Daikin Park.

So yeah, the Mariners need somebody to fill Miller’s spot in the rotation to begin the season. And sure, they have some strong candidates already on their roster in Emerson Hancock and Cooper Criswell. But why not at least kick the tires on a Paxton comeback?

I wonder if Paxton would jump at the opportunity, especially considering how a previous attempt at a reunion with the Mariners went awry. You may remember that he rejoined Seattle in free agency ahead of the 2021 season, three years after he was traded to the Yankees as the M’s began their rebuild. But that only lasted a little over an inning, as Paxton tore his UCL in the second frame of his first start of the season. He would then miss essentially two full years before pitching another couple of seasons with the Red Sox and Dodgers.

Paxton has looked good in the WBC, notching eight strikeouts over 4 1/3 innings, with the three runs that he has allowed being unearned as they all came in an inning where Panama took advantage of an error and piled up three infield singles.

And the Mariners have a spot that (hopefully) only needs to be filled for the short term.

Doesn’t it feel like the universe is asking for Paxton to get one last shot with the team who drafted him, who he threw a no-hitter for and who he had his greatest success in the big leagues with?

I say give “The Big Maple” the chance to ride into the sunset in a Mariners uniform – if he wants to.

Should the Seattle Mariners give James Paxton a call?

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