James Paxton (Ladner, B.C.) shows off his maple leaf tattoo after tossing a no-hitter at Rogers Centre on May 8. Photo Credit: Ben VanHouten, Seattle Mariners

By Ryan Hueter

Seattle Mariners

James Paxton (Ladner, B.C.) etched his name into the Mariners record books this season. His 2018 campaign was punctuated by a pair of historic games in a no-hitter and a 16-strikeout performance — and one noteworthy milestone, his first time reaching the 200-strikeout plateau.

The 6-foot-4, 227-pound left-hander was 11–6 with a 3.76 ERA with 208 strikeouts and 42 walks in 28 starts with the Mariners in 2018. Those 208 strikeouts placed him ninth in the American League, despite making two trips to the disabled list.

Among AL hurlers with at least 160 innings pitched, Paxton was third in strikeouts-per-9.0 innings (11.68), fourth in strikeout-to-walk ratio (4.95), seventh in WHIP (1.10) and ninth in opponents’ average against (.224).

“Overall, Paxton had a solid season,” Mariners manager Scott Servais said. “The injuries took away from what the overall numbers could have been, but he continues to improve and get better.”

Paxton became the sixth Mariners pitcher in club history to reach 200 strikeouts in a season, the first since Félix Hernández in 2014 and the first Seattle lefty since Randy Johnson in 1998. The native of British Columbia is now one of seven Canadian-born pitchers in big-league history with 200 strikeouts in a season, the first since Ryan Dempster (Gibsons, B.C.) in 2010 with the Cubs (208).

Photo Credit: Ben VanHouten, Seattle Mariners

The fact that Paxton reached the 200-strikeout mark in only 160 1/3 innings of work was also historic. Only two pitchers in Major League history have recorded 200 strikeouts in 161 innings pitched or fewer, and both happened in 2018: Paxton and Boston’s Chris Sale.

“It was great to get to 160 innings like I wanted to do, getting the 200th strikeout was really cool,” Paxton told MLB.com. “It was special. Looking forward to building off this season and getting to where we want to get to next year.”

No-Hitter

On May 8 at Toronto, Paxton tossed the sixth no-hitter in club history, including the fifth by an individual pitcher. He allowed only three baserunners — all via walks — while striking out seven over nine scoreless innings in the Mariners 5–0 win. He joined Johnson, Chris Bosio, Hernández and Hisashi Iwakuma as the only Mariners pitchers to record individual no-hitters.

The native of Ladner, British Columbia, became the second Canadian-born ever to throw a no-hitter. He joined Dick Fowler, who tossed a no-no for the Philadelphia Athletics in the second game of a doubleheader on Sept. 9, 1945 against the St. Louis Browns. It marked the sixth no-hitter in Major League history to take place on Canadian soil.

“To have it happen in Canada, what are the odds of that happening?” Paxton said after the game. “It’s pretty amazing to make that happen in Canada. It’s just very special.”

Paxton threw just 99 pitchers in the no-no, becoming the 12th pitcher since 1988 to toss fewer than 100 pitchers in a no-hitter.

16-Strikeout Performance

His no-no came on the heels of a career-high 16 strikeouts in his previous start, on May 2 vs. Oakland. He became the first American League pitcher with a no-hitter and a 16-strikeout game in the same season since Nolan Ryan achieved both in the same game on May 1, 1991 vs. Toronto.

Paxton’s 16 strikeouts marked the most by a Mariners pitcher since Randy Johnson tallied 19 strikeouts on Aug. 8, 1997 vs. the White Sox. In the outing against the A’s, Paxton tossed seven scoreless innings while allowing five hits and one walk with 16 strikeouts, one of three outings in club history of at least seven scoreless innings and at least 16 strikeouts. The other two belong to Johnson (8/8/97 vs. Chicago-AL and 7/15/95 vs. Toronto). Paxton became the first Mariners pitcher with at least two strikeouts in each of the first seven innings of a start.

2018 Notes

Paxton was one of eight pitchers in the Major Leagues with multiple complete games this season, joining José Berríos, Carlos Carrasco, Mike Foltynewicz, Corey Kluber, Max Scherzer, Noah Syndergaard and Jameson Taillon. The Mariners southpaw tossed his first career complete game in his no-hitter on May 8 at Toronto and followed that up two starts later with a complete game on May 19 vs. Detroit.

Among Mariners pitchers with at least 150 innings pitched in a single season, Paxton finished the 2018 season tied for the ninth-fewest walks (42).

After his no-hitter, Paxton was named co-American League Player of the Week for May 7–13. It marked the third such honor in his career, joining Randy Johnson as the only pitchers in club history with three Player of the Week honors.

Paxton recorded eight games of at least 10 strikeouts, tied for sixth-most in the Majors, along with Gerrit Cole. He trailed only Scherzer, Justin Verlander, Chris Sale, Jacob deGrom and Trevor Bauer.

From April 5 through June 10, Paxton went 6–0 with a 2.55 ERA with 107 strikeouts and 21 walks in 13 starts. During this span, he tied for the Major League lead in innings pitched while ranking third in strikeouts. Ten of his 13 starts during this span were quality starts.

Paxton had three starts of at least eight innings and three or fewer hits allowed, tied with Scherzer for the most such starts in the Majors this season.

A look back at James Paxton's season to remember