Tommy John Surgery is recommended for James Paxton

Tommy John surgery has been recommended for Mariners left-handed James Paxton, Reports Jon Heyman from MLB Network. If Paxton goes through the procedure, he will miss the rest of this season and at least part of the 2022 campaign.

Paxton began his career with the Mariners, who used a fourth-round pick on him in 2010, though after spending 2013-18 in their uniform, he switched to the Yankees. But Paxton, 32, returned to Seattle in free agency this past offseason on a one-year $ 8.5MM deal. Unfortunately, Big Maple left its first (and potentially lone) start in 2021 on Tuesday due to forearm problems. The Mariners then placed Paxton on the 10-day injury list.

While Paxton has typically done well in the majors, as evidenced by his 3.59 ERA / 3.62 SIERA over 1

37 appearances (all starts) and 754 2/3 innings, various injuries have haunted him since joining the league in 2013. He has never thrown more than 160 1/3 innings in an individual season, and he accounted for only 20 1/3 frames last year while dealing with back problems and a flexor strain. The Yankees then chose against bringing Paxton back, even though he made significant interest from teams in the open market before returning to the Mariners. However, it does not appear that reunification will be fruitful for both sides.

The Mariners went into the season with Paxton as an important part of their six-man rotation, but it looks like they will have to make other plans for the rest of the year. At least right now Nick Margevicius will take Paxton’s place in M’s starting staff and supplement Marco Gonzales, Yusei Kikuchi, Justus Sheffield, Chris Flexen and Justin Dunn.