Ryan Divish

The Seattle Times

With a black compression sleeve on his swollen left forearm, James Paxton stepped on to the outfield grass of Safeco Field on Sunday morning to play catch for the first time since a 96-mph line drive struck him in the forearm, forcing him out of his last start and on to the 10-day disabled list with a contusion.

Paxton played catch with trainer Rob Nodine, starting off slowly before upping the intensity.

“It felt good,” Paxton said. “No problems. There’s really no stiffness or anything. Just a little achy maybe. I think getting the rest of the swelling out there will help that. Once we get that swelling out, we should be good to go.”

One of the concerns is grip strength and whether Paxton can hold on to the baseball while throwing. But that wasn’t an issue.

“It was no problem,” he said. “I just threw fastballs today. I didn’t throw any breaking balls. We’ll back (the distance) up the next couple of days, get back on the mound, start spinning some stuff and get back at it.”

Paxton said his effort level was around 60 percent. He’ll play catch the next two days and possibly throw a bullpen session on Wednesday.

“We didn’t go out far, maybe 75 feet,” he said. “Just nice and easy and getting the arm going and through the motion.”

The big test for Paxton will be once he steps on to the mound and starts throwing at a higher intensity. The Mariners can then formulate a plan on his return.

“I think it was important for him to get out there today and get a ball in his hand,” M’s manager Scott Servais said. “The reports were good. We’ll see how he feels tomorrow. We’ll get a ball in his hand tomorrow and get him stretched out a little farther. It’s never going to be 100 percent and totally feel great. It’s just one of those things he’ll have to work through. The more you do it. The more it loosens up. We certainly need him in the worst way. But I want him to be healthy and able to contribute when he gets back out there.”