The first time the Yankees started spring training this year, James Paxton was fresh off back surgery and unable to do much of anything.
Spring training 2.0 is off to a better start for the left-hander.
Paxton looked sharp while throwing two innings in a simulated game Sunday, the second day of Yankees workouts in The Bronx in hopes of playing a 60-game season.
“It felt good to get back on a dirt mound,” Paxton said after striking out each of the batters he faced — Gary Sanchez, Miguel Andujar and Tyler Wade — at least once. “I’ve been throwing off a turf mound in running shoes for the last little while, so getting back on the dirt with the guys and facing some of our hitters, it was great. Felt good, felt healthy. It was a good first step for me.”
Paxton underwent back surgery — a microscopic lumbar discectomy with removal of a peridiscal cyst — on Feb. 5, at which point he was given a three-to-four-month timeline to return. He played catch for the first time on March 11, two days before spring training was suspended because of the coronavirus pandemic.
While the delay of the season was unwanted, Paxton was one of the handful of injured Yankees who were able to take advantage of the time off. Sunday provided him a chance to put his new stretching and fastball grip to the test.
“I thought he was really good,” manager Aaron Boone said. “The results were good. I thought he spun the ball really well for being the first time out. … I feel like he’s had a really good few months here. Since having the surgery, the progression for him has gone about as well as everyone could have hoped. He comes in here in a pretty good spot and ready to go.”
The 31-year-old Paxton is a pending free agent for the first time in his career. While he admitted “it’s obviously not ideal” timing given the shortened season and the potential financial strains teams will be facing next offseason, he said he would control what he could control.
For now, that means facing his own teammates and using it to his benefit.
“I think we’re pretty lucky,” Paxton said. “We got some really good hitters and facing those guys is tough and they know our stuff. So if anything, I think that’ll be more challenging and help us get ready. We’ll be able to talk to them about what our stuff looks like coming out and they’ll be able to tell us what they see, which I think will help me and other guys.”