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Veteran left-hander James Paxton won't be going to Korea with the Los Angeles Dodgers as they get set to take on the San Diego Padres for two games in the season-opening series.
Though injuries have unfortunately been a big part of Paxton's career, there is nothing wrong with him according to Juan Toribio of MLB.com:
James Paxton won’t be making the trip to South Korea. Nothing wrong with him physically, just staying back to keep building up since he wasn’t going to pitch out of the bullpen in either game. Gavin Stone and Michael Grove will make the trip.
James Paxton won’t be making the trip to South Korea. Nothing wrong with him physically, just staying back to keep building up since he wasn’t going to pitch out of the bullpen in either game. Gavin Stone and Michael Grove will make the trip.
— Juan Toribio (@juanctoribio) March 11, 2024
It makes sense to not send Paxton since he won't be pitching in any capacity in those games. The team has already announced that Tyler Glasnow will pitch Game 1 and Yoshinobu Yamamoto will pitch Game 2, and Paxton won't be a bullpen option as evidenced above.
Paxton signed a one-year contract with the Dodgers this past offseason and immediately slots into the starting rotation for the World Series contenders.
Paxton, who hails from British Columbia, came up with the Seattle Mariners and pitched for them from 2013-2018 before being dealt to the New York Yankees. He also came back to Seattle for one start in 2021 but ended up injuring himself in that start and needing the Tommy John surgery.
As referenced above, injuries have unfortunately been part of the story for Paxton in his career. He's never made 30 starts in a season and made just six appearances total between 2020 and 2022. He rebounded to make 19 starts for Boston a season ago.
Lifetime, he's 64-38 with a 3.69 ERA, so when he does pitch, he's quite effective.
The Dodgers won the National League West a season ago and are see as World Series favorites this season after the addition of Shohei Ohtani.
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