James Paxton Was Totally Electric After Rebounding From Shaky 1st Inning

Up and down doesn't even begin to describe James Paxton's first season as a Yankee. From game to game, or sometimes inning to inning, he'll look like Ron Guidry one turn through the lineup and Kei Igawa the next.

Those struggles followed by monumental brilliance once again cropped up against the Tampa Bay Rays on Sunday, heading into the break. After a laborious first inning in which he gave up two runs and was leaving seemingly every pitch right down the middle (several miles per hour off his ideal velocity), Paxton got his fastball working once again, and generated 15 whiffs on that pitch alone.

Paxton ended his start with two runs allowed in six innings while striking out 11. His ERA on the season dropped to 4.01 after consecutive strong outings against the Mets and Rays.

When Paxton is on, there aren't many left-handers tougher to face than him, as his upper 90s fastball and hellish spike curveball are nigh unhittable. Larry Rothschild and Paxton still need to work on him being able to locate his fastball more effectively if Paxton is to return to his Seattle Mariners form, allowing the Yankees can trust him when the playoffs roll around.

For now, his clearest course of action is to work on focus right out of the gate; Paxton's first inning vs. the rest of his ledger is downright disconcerting.

New York's in a great position entering the latter portion of July, 6.5 games up on the division lead. But they'd like an ace, and they'd like one consistently.

Hopefully, Paxton is just a few tweaks away.