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Seattle Mariners

Mariners Notebook: James Pazos looks to slide his way back to effectiveness

Seattle Mariners pitcher James Pazos, right , stands on the mound with Danny Valencia (26) and Robinson Cano, third from right, as manager Scott Servais, left, arrives to pull him from the baseball game against the New York Yankees in the sixth inning, Sunday, July 23, 2017, in Seattle. (Ted S. Warren / Associated Press)
By Bob Dutton Tacoma News Tribune

SEATTLE – It’s no secret. Lefty reliever James Pazos needs more sliders to pull him out of his recent slide. That’s the clear message from Mariners pitching coach Mel Stottlemyre and others.

It’s sinking in.

“I’ve been thinking a lot about it lately,” Pazos acknowledged. “I’m just not mixing it up enough. They’re hunting that fastball, and they’re hitting it. I just need to start mixing it up more.”

He didn’t do that initially in his last appearance, on Tuesday against Boston. Pazos entered a tie game in the 11th inning and began his outing by throwing 11 straight fastballs. The Red Sox put runners on first and second with one out.

Pazos finally went to his slider in a 12-pitch battle against Sandy Leon, which ended in a grounder that resulted in a force at second. Pazos then stranded runners at first and third by striking out Rafael Devers on a slider.

The Mariners eventually won the game 6-5 in 13 innings.

“Paz has been struggling a little bit lately,” manager Scott Servais said. “Hopefully, this kind of jump starts him. It’s good to walk off the mound after making big pitches. He got a big strikeout to end the inning.”

The Mariners acquired Pazos, 26, from the New York Yankees in a trade last November for minor-league pitcher Zack Littell, who is 14-1 with a 1.87 ERA this season at Hi-A and Double-A.

Pazos filled the Mariners’ need for a power left-hander to complement veteran matchup lefty Marc Rzepczynski in their bullpen. Pazos responded by compiling a 2.01 ERA in his first 30 outings while limiting opponents to a .188 average.

Then came a rocky four-run ninth inning on June 25 against Houston, which seemed to throw him into a funk. He gave up nine more runs in 5 1/3 innings over his next eight appearances. His ERA jumped to 4.10.

“It’s not been good at all,” Pazos admitted. “Not throwing the slider has definitely part of it. I need to just throw it more, but I also need to make more-competitive pitches with my fastball.

“I think a lot of the hits I’ve given up have been on fastballs in the middle, middle up. You can’t live like that. That’s where it starts but, obviously, the breaking ball has to be in play.”

Even among relievers, few pitchers can survive with just one pitch.

“It’s been heavy (on) fastballs,” Servais said, “and they’re hitting the fastballs. The reports that people have on him say he’s not throwing many breaking balls. He’s certainly not landing them for strikes.

“That’s played into him becoming one dimensional and, in this league, it’s really hard to survive that way.”

If Pazos adds the slider more frequently to his mix, the Mariners believe, then his 95-97-mph fastball, even if it misses location, becomes harder to hit.

“Pazos is a stuff guy,” Servais said. “He’s not a command pitch-maker. He’s going to have some up-and-down to his game. But the slider – they don’t hit it. They hit less than .100 against it.

“But the fastball, they’re getting a lot of them, and they’re hitting them.”

So look for more sliders in Pazos’ future appearances.

“Yes, sir,” he confirmed. “That’s the thing. I just need to use it, and that will get the fastball back on track.”