It was late July when James Paxton was nearing his breaking point — as was the Yankees hierarchy. The towering left-hander, acquired from the Seattle Mariners last off-season, was supposed to be one of the starting rotation’s guardians, blessed with an oversize windup and a high-90s fastball that could overwhelm even elite hitters.

But in midsummer, nothing was going right for Paxton, whose record had sunk below .500. The murmuring in the stands at Yankee Stadium was turning to outright booing. The club decided to investigate: General Manager Brian Cashman asked the Yankees pitching coach Larry Rothschild if Paxton’s makeup might be the problem.

It was a question, not an indictment, although Cashman’s concern was understandable. The Yankees were less than a year removed from a failed experiment with Sonny Gray, having learned the hard way that not every talented pitcher can summon his best in front of 40,000 New Yorkers.