After 11 big-league seasons, Canadian left-handed pitcher James Paxton is planning to hang up his cleats at the end of the 2024 campaign.
The Boston Red Sox southpaw told WEEI’s Rob Bradford Wednesday on the Baseball Isn’t Boring podcast that he is planning on retiring at the end of the season.
Paxton has been out since Aug. 11 with a strained right calf that forced him to leave a start against the Houston Astros in the first inning.
“I’m hoping that we can squeak into the post-season, and I can get the opportunity to pitch again,” Paxton told Bradford. “But I think after this season, I’m gonna be retiring and moving onto the next chapter.”
The 35-year-old had appeared in 21 games this season, pitching to a 9-3 record and 4.40 ERA. with both the Los Angeles Dodgers and Red Sox.
He was traded from Los Angeles to Boston for minor leaguer Moises Bolivar in late July.
“It’s tough. Obviously, I can still do it. I can still go out there and compete and help the team win,” Paxton said about the decision. “I just think with where my family is at and what they need right now, they need me home. I feel the duty and responsibility to being at home with my family, and I’m looking forward to spending more time with them.”
The Ladner, B.C. native has pitched in 177 career games since debuting in 2013, spending time with the Seattle Mariners, New York Yankees, Dodgers and Red Sox.
Paxton owns a 3.77 ERA over 951 career innings, where he racked up 1005 strikeouts, 73 wins and 13.9 WAR, per Baseball Reference.
Originally drafted by the Blue Jays in the first round of the 2009 MLB Draft, Paxton was unable to come to terms with Toronto and ultimately re-entered the draft in 2010, where he was selected by the Mariners.
On May 8, 2018, Paxton completed the second no-hitter thrown by a Canadian-born pitcher, keeping the Blue Jays out of the hit column in a 5-0 Seattle win. The seven-strikeout performance made him the first and only Canadian to throw a no-no on home soil.
Paxton currently ranks seventh among all Canadian-born pitchers in wins, 14th in innings pitched, sixth in strikeouts and ninth in WAR.
