Each week, The London West Tincaps Major Rookie team will select an MLB player of the week. This may be a current player on a hot streak, a former baseball great or someone we want to recognize and learn about.
This weeks player of the week is Canadian born MLB pitcher James Paxton of the Seattle Mariners.
On May 08, 2018, James Paxton threw the 299th no-hitter in MLB history against the Toronto Blue Jays in a 5-0 victory. The native of Lander, B.C., nicknamed The Big Maple, became the first Canadian to pitch a no-hitter on Canadian soil and only the second Canadian ever to throw a no-hitter. Dick Fowler was the only other Canadian to throw a no-hitter, when pitching for the Philadelphia A's, he shut out the St. Louis Browns 1-0 on September 09, 1945.
Paxton had been on a bit of a roll, striking out 16 Oakland Athletics in his previous start on May 02, 2018. Amazingly, Paxton's no-hitter was his first ever complete game. He needed only 99 pitches to defeat the Blue Jays in Toronto. He walked 3 batters and struck out 7 and threw first pitch strikes to 21 of the 29 batters he faced. Paxton is the first AL pitcher to have a 16-strikeout game and a no-hitter in the same season since Nolan Ryan with the Texas Rangers in 1991. Ryan did that in the same game against Toronto, while Paxton pulled it off in back-to-back outings. Paxton is now only 6 no-hitters away from tying Nolan Ryan's record of 7 career no-hitters!
Paxton had help from his teammates in the field that night, with 11 ground ball outs and 9 fly ball outs. Stellar plays from third baseman Kyle Seager and Paxton's battery mate on the night catcher Mike Zunino aided Paxton in his no-hitter, showing it truly is a team effort.
Congratulations James Paxton on your no-hitter!
James Paxton on his no-hitter
All 27 outs from James Paxton's no-hitter