Donnelly: Paxton's steady debut the main bright spot in frustrating Red Sox loss

James Paxton's first pitch in the majors in 766 days was a 94-mile-per-hour fastball up in the zone to Tommy Edman.

His fifth was a 97 mph heater up and in to send the Cardinals' leadoff man sitting to kick off his first MLB start since April 6, 2021. 

While uncharacteristically off nights from both Josh Winckowski and Kenley Jansen squandered both timely hitting for the Red Sox and what turned out to be a steady debut for Paxton, the southpaw was the main bright spot in Boston's 8-6 loss to St. Louis at Fenway Park on Friday – still brighter than the postgame drone show.

"Yeah, you know it was a long time [since seeing MLB action]," Paxton said. "I was just focused on finding my rhythm out there and letting it rip. It felt good coming out."

It wasn't the rosiest start for Paxton, though. 

The rust was there in the first inning after striking out Edman. Paul Goldschmidt put a high-and-away cutter into play for a single before Paxton might as well have put the ball on a tee for Nolan Arenado, who cranked a fastball over the Green Monster with an exit velocity of 107.8 mph for an early 2-0 lead. 

From there, Paxton settled into cruise control with four relatively stress-free innings.

The 34-year-old sent nine batters in total packing, striking six of them out looking. He struck out the side in the fourth with all three going in the scorebook as a backward K. 

"It was fun to watch out there. His stuff was really good from the get-go," Alex Cora said. "For his first one at this level, with that stuff, we're very pleased. I know he's very pleased. Just get ready for the next one."

In the fourth, he got away with a hanging fastball – identical to the one Arenado took deep – to the power-hitting Goldschmidt, who instead settled for another single to the outfield.

After a two-hit, two-run first, Paxton allowed just two more hits the rest of the way in addition to a walk, finishing his night with a total of 5.0 innings, two earned runs and four hits allowed. He threw 58 of his 87 pitches for strikes (66.67 percent), and consistently hit the high-90s with his fastball, topping out at 98 mph. 

"You know what? I felt like myself out there again," Paxton said. "It was really nice to be pitching in a big league stadium again with all that adrenaline. The fans were fantastic out there. Just had a lot of fun doing it."

It was akin to the Big Maple that averaged a 3.16 ERA and threw a no-hitter during his first six seasons in the league as a Seattle Mariner. 

"I mean, he looked like the guy that was pitching in Seattle a while ago,” Cora said. “The fastball was playing. The breaking ball got better throughout the outing. The cutter, he dotted a few of those. He was in control. It just happens that it was his first one."

The breaking ball in particular has been coming along for Paxton as he continues to ramp back up to speed.

"It felt good. I feel like I keep on making progress with it," he said. "I felt like it kept getting better as the game went on as well. So, just keep on going with it, keep throwing it, and I think it'll just get better consistently."

While he and Cora both felt he had a little more left to give, Boston erred on the side of caution with the injury-riddled lefty.

"I came off, and I thought I was gonna keep on going, but he said it was time to turn it over," Paxton said. "That was fine. It felt good to have gotten through my first start back. Felt pretty good about it. Just excited to keep on going."

Cora said, "It felt like he wanted one more, and probably stuff-wise, yeah, of course [he could have gone one more]. But where he was in a pitch-count and it's his first outing after all that stuff that happened. He and I are going to err to the safety side. You know, take care of him. Hopefully, he can take care of us in the long run."

Boston is certainly hoping the first-inning Paxton that the Yankees got in 2019 isn't making a return in 2023. In 2019, Paxton had a 9.00 ERA in 29.0 first innings, giving up 12 home runs as batters had a 1.015 OPS against him to start games. In his career, he has a 5.03 ERA across 136.0 first innings, easily his worst mark in that category, outside of the eighth inning (5.83 ERA, but only in 11.0 innings).

It was long-awaited for Paxton, who signed with the Red Sox in the 2021-22 offseason, after spending nearly two full seasons rehabbing Tommy John surgery after the one start in 2021 before again winding up on the injured list coming out of spring training this year.

"Honestly, it kind of felt like my debut all over again, you know, after it being so long. All those emotions. You're nervous, you're excited and all of that, and just focused on getting ready for the game and giving everything I had out there."

With the starting rotation suddenly very crowded with Paxton's arrival, but Cora made it clear Paxton will be a part of it.

"We’ve got to be careful with him. He’s here for the long run, not for one start," the skipper said. "We’re very pleased with the way he went about it, with the stuff he had. His next one is Friday. He’ll be ready for that one.”