On his best days, Paxton can blow through any lineup with a mid-90s heat, a big-breaking curve, and a decent cutter and change to give the hitters a different look. On his worst days, his velocity sags, he lacks command and leaves his pitches too high in the strike zone, and he gets hit hard. Why the variance? Paxton has a big over-the-top delivery and he has trouble keeping it consistent.

A lot of the command troubles likely stem from his complex mechanics, which aren’t the cleanest or most consistent and include a backside dip as his hands break to come to the plate. The stuff includes a fastball that he can run up to 96 routinely and higher at times – like in his debut, when he topped out at 99.03 MPH. He holds that velocity late into games, too, often showing increasing velocity as games go along, and the lefty gets good downhill plane on the pitch, using his frame and long limbs to his advantage, pitching even taller than his 6-foot-4 frame. He compliments the plus fastball with a curve that is plus at times, a developing cutter, and a fringe-average changeup that he uses more as an infrequent show pitch than as a true part of his repertoire.

“His mid-nineties stuff and sick breaking ball hasn’t yet translated to many overpowering performances…,” which echoes the idea that he may not always use his nasty stuff effectively.