James Paxton will take a 5-0 record and 2.84 ERA into his start Friday night at Cincinnati, which is pretty remarkable considering the Dodgers left-hander walked as many batters (24) as he struck out (24) in 44u2153 innings of his first eight games and is ready to send out a search party for one of his best secondary pitches.
“I don’t really know where it is,” Paxton said of his cut-fastball, an essential part of his three-pitch repertoire for most of his 11-year career until this season. “I’m trying to figure it out. We’re playing catch with it, throwing it in the bullpen and stuff like that, and I just haven’t been able to find it yet.