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After James Paxton was scratched from his start this evening, it was only a matter of time before we had some word as to why. Turns out, he's coming to Seattle.
Per the Mariners, James Paxton is headed to SD and will be activated tomorrow. The corresponding roster move will be announced tomorrow
— Ryan Divish (@RyanDivish) June 1, 2016
Paxton has rediscovered his strikeout game in Triple-A Tacoma, but he's had some problems with the home run ball. A 3.97 ERA from a 27-year-old with 30 big league starts under his belt is nothing special, but it's good enough for a team's sixth starter.
While we'll plan to have more to say about the move tomorrow when it's official, it's fun to wildly speculate as to what could be happening. Barring someone headed to the DL, the likely options are: a quick spot start to give the rotation an extra day of rest, or a move demoting Wade Miley to the bullpen. Seeing as it's been just two months, a bullpen demotion from an established arm is not the most likely, but it remains one of the possibilities at this time.