The Red Sox have added some depth to their rotation, acquiring lefty James Paxton from the Dodgers in exchange for minor league infielder Moises Bolivar , the teams announced on Friday. Boston transferred right-hander Bryan Mata to the 60-day injured list to open a spot on the 40-man roster. WEEI’s Rob Bradford reported on Thursday that the Red Sox, who need some rotation stability and who employed Paxton from 2022-23, were expected to pursue him.
Paxton was something of a surprise DFA by the Dodgers. He’s made all 18 starts asked of him this season and posted a respectable, if unspectacular 4.43 earned run average.
Those numbers closely mirror the 4.50 ERA he logged in a similar sample of 96 frames with Boston last season, but the rest of the 35-year-old’s profile doesn’t look nearly as strong. After averaging 95.
2 mph on his fastball with the Sox last season, Paxton is down to 93.2 mph in 2024. He’s seen his strikeout rate plummet from 24.
6 percent to 16.4 percent, while his walk rate has soared from 8 percent to 12.3 percent.
Paxton’s average exit velocity has also jumped by a mile and a half per hour, from 89.3 mph with the Sox to 90.8 mph with Los Angeles.
His overall hard-hit rate has climbed in a similar fashion, from 39.6 percent to 43.3 percent.
He’s gotten by with a career-low .267 average on balls in play and homer-to-flyball rate that’s also notably lower than his career marks. Whether Paxton can sustain his passable results with that lackluster ar.