January 27, 2025
Right-handed pitcher Paxton Schultz is looking to build off last season, a year where he transitioned to the bullpen and adjusted his slider for more success on the mound.
“I made a little adjustment to my slider,” explained Schultz. “I used to throw a big sweeping slider but now I throw more of a gyro slider, so it plays off my fastball. I’ve always been one that had a pretty good fastball that has good vert to it and the sweeper didn’t really tunnel off it. I’m hoping to add a little more up-and-down and get some more swings and misses there.”
His gyro slider is one of four pitches that Schultz currently uses along with a 4-seam fastball, a cutter, and a changeup.
“I’m trying to tunnel everything off of that fastball,” Schultz added. “I made a couple changes to my changeup last year and like I said instead of having more side-to-side movement, I killed some vert, I added more drop, I feel that makes hitters respect it more, my fastball plays off that, I had a lot of success with that, a lot of swing and miss, a lot of strikeouts with the slider.”
Primarily working out of the bullpen a year ago, Schultz pitched 92 innings for Triple-A Buffalo finishing the year with 112 K’s and a WHIP of 1.35.
“I like the transition,” Schultz said of his bullpen role. “I’ve been mostly a starter, but I’d say I like the flexibility of being a reliever. I have more opportunities on the mound per week. I got some advice last year that really helped me – that was after catch play, instead of throwing my pitches off the flat ground, work everything off the mound.”
Be sure to follow Paxton Schultz’s progress.