Dodgers’ James Paxton Revealed What Worked So Well For Him Against Atlanta

James Paxton entered Sunday’s start against the Atlanta Braves eager to find the command he had been missing in his first five starts this season. Despite having a 3-0 record, the veteran starting pitcher had walked 22 batters in 25.2 innings.

Paxton had his best start yet in a Dodgers uniform to help the Dodgers sweep the Braves by a score of 5-1.  He gave up one earned run and five hits in 6.2 innings, striking out three and walking two.

“It felt great,” Paxton told reporters after the game. “I finally felt some rhythm out there. We’ve been working hard between games trying to figure it out and it feels good to make some progress.”

Paxton said his arm felt a little choppy in the back and finding his rhythm along with the direction of his delivery moving forward really helped with his control, limiting the walks.

“Walking guys always makes the game harder,” Paxton said. “Being able to get in the strike zone and not walk nearly as many guys was nice.”

The Dodgers have won 11 of their last 13 games and the starting pitching has been spectacular only giving up 17 earned runs in 75.1 innings for a 2.03 ERA.

Dodgers reliever Joe Kelly got the final out of the seventh inning and then Blake Treinen pitched a scoreless eighth in his first inning of work since 2022. Michael Grove retired the side in the ninth to close the door on the Braves, who entered the series with the best record in baseball.

Los Angeles now looks ahead to Walker Buehler who makes his highly-anticipated debut on Monday against the Miami Marlins. Buehler hasn’t pitched in a major league game in 22 months, while his last healthy season was in 2021.

Mandatory Credit: Kiyoshi Mio-USA TODAY Sports

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