TAMPA — Gray’s Disease?
Burnett’s Syndrome?
Or do we go back to the condition’s beginning and call it the Curse of Ed Whitson?
Whatever insensitive moniker you choose, it’s real, virtually everyone agrees, and it’s awfully hard to prognose. And because the Yankees needed external reinforcements for their pitching staff, they’re banking on James Paxton avoiding the affliction that occasionally turns an accomplished pitcher into goo once he puts on the pinstripes.
“I watched it happen,” Paxton said Wednesday at George M. Steinbrenner Field, of Sonny Gray’s Bronx downfall last season. “I don’t have a whole lot of information on how that all went down for him.