James Paxton Gets High Praise From Dave Roberts After Dodgers Debut

Los Angeles Dodgers pitcher James Paxton made his first start of the year on Monday, as the Dodgers earned an 8-3 win over the San Francisco Giants. In his Dodgers debut, Paxton impressed in his first regular season action of the year. He gave up four hits and five walks but allowed zero earned runs in five innings. He also struck out five Giants hitters.

For Dodgers manager Dave Roberts, what the 35-year-old Paxton did is no surprise.

“It was what you would expect from James. He’s a seasoned veteran,” Roberts said, via SportsNet LA. “He’s going to go out there and compete and make pitches when he needed to. That last out was big. There was just some misses at the top of the zone tonight with the fastball. But I still thought there was life to the fastball and there were a lot of ugly swings with the breaking ball to the right-handed hitters. It was a really nice job.”

Paxton was less positive about his performance, admitting he didn’t hit his perfect rhythm during the game.

“I didn’t really feel, like, sharp,” Paxton said, via SportsNet LA. “I was kind of in and out of good rhythm. But Will did a great job back there and we made pitches when we had to.”

All in all, it was a good start for Paxton after his 2023 season with the Boston Red Sox was cut short due to knee issues. Paxton will likely get his next start against the Minnesota Twins early next week.

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