James Paxton: Baseball's Velo Culture, Backyard to Big League & I Wouldn't Get Recruited Now | Ep 52

James Paxton pitched on some of baseball's biggest stages, battling through injuries to become one of only two Canadian pitchers to ever throw a no-hitter in the big leagues, and the only one to do it on Canadian soil. Earlier this year, he came out of retirement to pitch for Team Canada at the World Baseball Classic. However, these days, most of his innings are as a husband to Katie, a father to two young kids, and co-host of The Pitch podcast.

James and Scott dig into the catch-in-the-backyard relationship with his dad that shaped his love of the game, how getting cut from an all-star team at 10 years old became one of the best things that happened to him, and why he doubts the 2026 recruiting version of James Paxton would even get looked at today. They talk through the "allostatic load" youth athletes are carrying with school, friendships, and training stacked on top of each other without the recovery time James had as a kid. They also discuss why velocity gets over-indexed in youth baseball and what are we actually trying to teach kids through sport knowing that most will never become high performance athletes. James also opens up about untangling his identity from his performance on the mound, why he sought out a therapist, and the simple parenting shift he believes matters most: praise the effort, not the result.

If you've ever wondered how a former big-league starter thinks about raising his own kids through sport, this conversation is full of hard-earned, honest perspective.