The Los Angeles Dodgers turned some heads when they designated James Paxton for assignment, thereby removing him from the 40-man roster. Paxton had been struggling as of late, but the Dodgers clearly saw no more room for Paxton on the big-league roster, cutting him loose in favor of top prospect River Ryan after he struggled to the tune of an 8.66 ERA over his past four starts. But the Dodgers aren't done making moves quite yet amid continued injury woes to their pitching staff.
On Thursday morning, Jon Heyman of the New York Post reported that the Dodgers have come to terms with starting pitcher Jordan Lyles on a minor-league deal. Lyles last pitched for the Kansas City Royals before being released a few days ago, with no team picking him up off waivers.
Lyles has struggled throughout his career; he has a career ERA of 5.22, never finishing a season with an ERA of below 4.00. But what the 33-year-old starter provides is the ability to soak up innings. He has averaged nearly 179 innings over the past three seasons, and for a Dodgers team in dire need of someone to eat some very valuable innings to buy some time for their injured starters, Lyles can certainly provide a bit of value.
The Dodgers' addition of Jordan Lyles is a bit akin to that of their trade acquisition of Lance Lynn last season. Veterans who can be relied upon to start every four or five days are underrated to have especially during the dog days of a very long regular season. This is a testament to the Dodgers front office's belief in its pitching coaching staff as well, as turning Lyles into a positive contributor on the mound will require some expertise.
Nonetheless, with Tyler Glasnow recently returning to the mound and Clayton Kershaw soon to follow, Lyles may not play too big of a role for the Dodgers anyway, even with Walker Buehler, Dustin May, and Yoshinobu Yamamoto all still on the mend.
Is Jordan Lyles that much better than James Paxton for the Dodgers?
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James Paxton may have, on the whole, pitched an okay enough season for the Dodgers after signing a one-year, $7 million deal this past offseason. His surface stats are not too bad, even after his cold spell on the bump. He's currently sporting a 4.43 ERA, although he has been outperforming his peripherals, sporting a rather poor strikeout to walk ratio amid a huge drop in his fastball velocity.
Jordan Lyles hasn't pitched too often in 2024 due to a personal matter. But his fastball velocity is even worse than Paxton's, and he has consistently been serving up meatballs to opponents. In 2023, Lyles allowed nearly two home runs per nine innings despite pitching mostly in a pitcher-friendly park.
Perhaps the Dodgers are merely hoping that Paxton still has some trade value around the league so that they could find a team to take on the remainder of his salary for the season. Paxton is notoriously injury-prone as well, so for some comparable production, the Dodgers are opting for the lower-cost, more durable option in Lyles.
