TAMPA — James Paxton’s first outing as a Yankee served its purpose. Now the left-hander needs to work on a few areas while preparing for the regular season.
“My goal was to throw a lot of strikes and I didn’t do that in the first inning,’’ said Paxton, who was acquired from Seattle for a package that included pitching prospect Justus Sheffield. “I wanted to come out and pound the strike zone and I did a better job of that in the second inning. You want to feel where your body is at, and I feel I made the adjustment from the first to the second inning.