Paul

Blackburn

The deal, which was agreed to back in late December, is finally official. Blackburn returns to New York as a versatile swingman capable of making the occasional spot start while gobbling up multiple innings in relief. The 32-year-old veteran posted a pedestrian 4.39 FIP, 1.51 WHIP and 34/12 K/BB ratio across 39 innings over 15 appearances between the Mets and Yankees this past season. He can be safely ignored in all fantasy formats.

He’ll make $100,000 extra for 80, 90, 100, 110 and 120 innings thrown. Blackburn will probably compete with Ryan Yarbrough for the fifth rotation spot coming out of spring training, with the loser of the battle going to middle relief. However, Carlos Rodón could be back to claim the rotation spot before the end of April.

Blackburn bolsters New York’s relief mix, likely in a versatile swingman capacity, heading into the final five weeks of the season. The 31-year-old righty posted a calamitous 6.85 ERA across 23 2/3 innings (seven appearances, four starts) before being released by the Mets earlier this week.

Now that he can be had for the major league minimum, Blackburn will likely quickly be picked up by some team searching for innings. He had a 6.85 ERA in four starts and three relief appearances for the A’s, but his velocity was about as good as ever and his peripherals weren’t too much worse than usual.

Blackburn has been jettisoned from New York’s 40-man roster to pave the way for top pitching prospect Nolan McLean to ascend to the majors for Saturday’s start against the Mariners. The 31-year-old righty has been limited to just seven appearances (four starts) this season due to injury, finishing with a disastrous 6.85 ERA across 23 2/3 innings of work.

Blackburn, back from a shoulder impingement, just posted a 2.42 ERA in 22 1/3 innings over four starts for Syracuse, but the Mets are planning on sticking him in middle relief instead of giving him Frankie Montas’s rotation spot. Blackburn has a 7.71 ERA in four starts and two relief appearances in the majors this season.

The 32-year-old right-hander holds an uninspiring 6.38 ERA, 1.55 WHIP and a 32/12 K/BB ratio over 36 2/3 innings with the Mets this season. While he wouldn’t name Montas’ replacement in the rotation, the Mets have several arms on the injured list that are close to working their way back. Expect one of them to take the ball on Saturday against the Mariners.

This is Blackburn’s second straight solid start in Triple-A, striking out six, walking one, and throwing 56 of his 87 pitches for strikes. There is no clear spot for him in the Mets’ rotation right now, and the team is reportedly looking to add starting pitching at the deadline, so it’s unclear what role Blackburn may have for the remainder of the season. Perhaps the Mets could trade him to a team in need of back-end rotation depth.

Blackburn’s injury likely occurred during Saturday’s outing against the Pirates in a start that saw an 89-minute rain delay. The right-hander will be out through the All-Star break, but a more concrete timeline should be made available in the coming days.

This wasn’t fair to Blackburn, who worked a scoreless first prior to an 89-minute rain delay. Most pitchers aren’t brought back out after that long of a break, but the Mets thought they could risk it, not knowing that Blackburn would give up five straight hits to begin the second. They were all singles, but three were hit at least 106 mph. Blackburn was replaced by José Buttó, and the Mets went on to lose 9-2.