There’s a new name in the upper echelon of the 2009 draft lists that occupy the minds of scouting directors around the country. Or at least those who have seen him throw thus far. That is junior LHP James Paxton of the University of Kentucky.
And by upper echelon, we mean way at the top, as in potential high first round.
The 6-4, 215 lb Paxton is a previously unheralded native of Ladner, British Columbia. He served as a spot reliever as a freshman at Kentucky in 2007, pitching in 25 games but only registering 18 innings facing mostly left handed hitters. He won the Sunday starter role midway through the 2008 season, finishing 4-2, 2.92 in 52 innings, including a shutout victory at the end of the SEC regular season that clinched a playoff spot for the Wildcats.
However, Paxton didn’t throw after that in the playoffs due to a lower back problem and was limited during the summer (only 16 innings in the Alaskan League) and the fall as he rehabbed his injury. He was listed as a low Group 2 (rounds 4-10) prospect on the pre-season PG Crosschecker prospect rankings.
So far this spring, Paxton is 3-0, 3.86 in four starts, with 37 strikeouts and only 3 walks in 23 innings pitched. Included in that was a March 14 start against Louisiana State where Paxton matched up against the Tigers 2010 ace RHPAnthony Ranaudo. Both pitchers left after six innings in a game that LSU would eventually win 5-3, but not before Paxton struck out 14 against perhaps the top offensive unit in college baseball.
According to a scout who was at the game, Paxton pitched at 92-97 mph on his fastball with serious sinking life (“like he was throwing bricks up there”) from a low ¾’s release point reminiscent of Randy Johnson’s. His breaking ball was a nasty plus/plus 80-83 mph slurve with a big, sweeping break.
“Paxton was just an animal,” the scout related. “He’s a big, big kid and very physical on the mound. He was throwing just power, power stuff up there for six innings. I saw Matthew Purke (the top ranked HS prospect, also a LHP) earlier in the year and Kyle Gibson (the Missouri RHP, a projected top 10 pick) at the top of his game earlier in the week and neither compared to Paxton as far as raw stuff is concerned.”
PG Crosschecker’s Allan Simpson confirmed with multiple scouting directors that Paxton has risen into first round consideration on many early draft boards. Simpson, a native of British Columbia like Paxton, will have a more in-depth profile of his fellow Canadian posted on this site in the near future.