James Paxton’s first season back with the Seattle Mariners has come to an abrupt end before it began.

Paxton will undergo season-ending elbow surgery, according to Mariners manager Scott Servais on Tuesday. “It’s a blow this is a guy who is a top-end starter, a top-of-the-rotation type of guy,” Servais said. “Certainly nothing against our other guys, but they just don’t have the experience and the track record that Pax has accumulated over his time in the big leagues,” Servais explained.

Paxton made his season debut on April 6 but was pulled after two innings and 24 pitches. Paxton was originally diagnosed with a forearm strain, but a second opinion indicated that the injury was far be more serious than initially believed.

“I feel terrible for Pax and having to deal with this one again,” Servais said. “If I know Pax, he’ll take the right attitude with it and go forward and try to make the best out of it and come back stronger than ever.”

The 32-year-old pitched for Seattle from 2013-2018, compiling a 41-26 record with a 3.42 ERA. In 2018, the Mariners traded him to the New York Yankees.

The pitcher struggled during the first half of his season with the Yankees. However, during the second half, he was able to find his form and went 15-6 with a 3.82 ERA. Additionally, Paxton won a career-best 10 straight starts. Last season, the left-handed pitcher was limited to five starts due to a left flexor strain. 

The 32-year-old decided to return to Seattle after signing a one-year deal worth $8 million. The pitcher was off to a great start during spring training. In two spring games, Paxton recorded two wins, 17 strikeouts and a 1.08 ERA.

Servais did not disclose what surgery the pitcher will be undergoing.

Major League Baseball’s Opening Day is rapidly approaching. With that being said, it is time to make predictions for each team heading into the 2021 season following a 2020 pandemic-shortened campaign.

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The Seattle Mariners have unanswered questions in all areas of the game that will probably prevent them from making a postseason run in 2021. Missing the postseason will bring their playoff drought to 20 years. The Mariners have never played in a World Series and have played postseason baseball four times in 44 seasons. Looking onto 2021, there are a multitude of concerns that will probably prevent the team from finishing the season with a winning record.

Here are Seattle’s projected starters.

Seattle Mariners Projected Batting Order:

1. SS J.P. Crawford
2. OF Mitch Haniger
3. OF Kyle Lewis
4. 3B Kyle Seager 
5. 1B Evan White
6. 2B Ty France
7. C Tom Murphy
8. OF Jake Fraley
9. OF Jarred Kelenic

Seattle Mariners Projected Pitching Staff

• SP1 Marco Gonzales 
• SP2 James Paxton
• SP3 Justus Sheffield
• SP4 Yusei Kikuchi
• SP5 Chris Flexen
• CL Rafael Montero

Seattle Mariners Team Outlook:

During the offseason, the Mariners signed starters Chris Flexen and James Paxton. They also signed reliever Ken Giles and Keynan Middleton. Another reliever, Rafael Montero, was acquired via trade. He is the favorite to be the team’s closer this season.

Regarding the Mariners’ starting pitching, the rotation is below average, and hope for the future lies with young pitching prospects and their development. Seattle’s bullpen has potential if Montero can stay healthy, but new acquisition Ken Giles will not pitch this season after having Tommy John surgery.

Looking at Seattle’s offense, Kyle Lewis and Kyle Seager are solid, but the real difference maker will be outfielder Mitch Haniger if he can bounce back after an injury-ridden 2020. With all of this in mind, it seems likely that the Mariners will finish at the bottom of the standings in the American League.

Seattle Mariners Schedule:

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James Paxton will be returning to the Seattle Mariners after a two-season stint with the New York Yankees.

The left-handed pitcher and Seattle agreed to an $8.5 million one-year deal. Paxton is able to earn an additional $1.5 million in performance bonuses for starts. The bonuses are $150,000 each for six to 10 starts and $750,000 moreover starts 11-22.

Paxton played for Seattle from 2003-2018, the pitcher compiled a 41-26 with a 3.42 ERA during his tenure with the team. In addition, he earned 617 strikeouts, 168 walks in 582 1/3 innings. In November 2018, he was traded to the Yankees in exchange for left-hander Justus Sheffield, along with outfielder Dom Thompson-Williams and right-hander Erik Swanson.

Seattle held out hope that the left-handed pitcher would return to the team, one day. In his first season with New York, he struggled but was able to find his stride to go 15 wins and six losses with a 3.82 ERA. In his second and final season with the Yankees, the left-handed pitcher only had two wins and three losses with an ERA of 6.64 ERA in five starts.

The 32-year-old was unable to play after August 20 because of a low-grade strain in his left forearm flexor. After the season ended, the Yankees allowed the 32-year-old to walk in free agency.

Paxton will be joining a Seattle team that will employ a six-man rotation pitching style, which will likely take away about five starts from each pitcher in the rotation.

Seattle Mariners pitcher James Paxton didn’t just helped lead his team to victory on Tuesday night, he also made history.

James Paxton Pitches No-Hitter Vs. Blue Jays

The 29-year-old Canadian lefty threw for all nine innings of the Mariners’ 5-0 win over the Blue Jays in Toronto. According to MLB.com, this marked the sixth no-hitter in Mariners history. Paxton accomplished this with 99 throws.

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Here are the five other Mariners to have ever recorded a no-hitter:

• • Randy Johnson; June 2, 1990
  • Chris Bosio; April 22, 1993
  • Committee**; June 8, 2012
  • Felix Hernandez; Aug. 15, 2012
  • Hisashi Iwakuma; Aug 12, 2015

Paxton also accomplished another feat: he is the first Canadian-born MLB pitcher to toss a no-hitter in Canada.

Just last week, Paxton wowed after finishing with a career-high 16 strikeouts in a 3-2 loss against the Oakland Athletics in Seattle.

According to CBS Sports, Paxton had one of his best performances in April 2015, when he allowed just two hits and struck out nine in eight scoreless innings.

Here is a video of Paxton’s last pitch on Tuesday night:

Paxton now boasts an ERA of 3.40.

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The Mariners (20-14, third in AL West) next face the Blue Jays again at 7:07pm EST on Wednesday for the second game of a three-game series in Toronto.

Seattle Mariners pitcher James Paxton received an unexpected, up close and personal visit from a bald eagle on Thursday, when the regal bird ended up on his shoulder.

James Paxton Bald Eagle incident, Mariners vs. Twins

The funny incident occurred during the playing of “The Star-Spangled Banner” before the Minnesota Twins’ home opener against the Mariners. Paxton, who was simply and quietly standing while the national anthem played, seemed to handle the situation in a rather cool manner, simply waving the eagle off after it landed between his arm and shoulder.

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The incident is also ironic because the eagle is usually associated with the United States, while left-hander Paxton is Canadian.

Shortly after the eagle landed on Paxton, its handler rushed onto Target Field and fetched the bird.

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“Figured I’m not going to outrun an eagle,” Paxton told reporters after the game. “So might as well see what happens.”

Incidentally, Paxton recently appeared in a Mariners ad. In the commercial, the 29-year-old pitcher removes his cap and shows that inside it are three bird eggs in a nest.

Paxton was the AL Pitcher of the Month in July 2017 and played for the Kentucky Wildcats in college.

The Twins won Thursday’s game, the first of a three-game series, 4-2. Minnesota and Seattle face off again at 2:10pm EST on Saturday.