Yankees add former Met Paul Blackburn as a long reliever
Former Met Paul Blackburn delivers a pitch against Atlanta on June 23 at Citi Field. Credit: Jim McIsaac
Paul Blackburn was sitting in front of his new locker in the Yankees’ clubhouse before Thursday night’s series opener against the Red Sox at the Stadium.
In theory, it would have been a smooth trip to the Bronx for the former Met, who was designated for assignment last Saturday and released earlier this week before signing with the Yankees on Thursday. Reality played out differently.
Blackburn returned home to Idaho last Sunday. He received the call from the Yankees on Tuesday and was supposed to join the team in Tampa on Wednesday. Mother Nature had other thoughts.
“I was coming from Idaho,” said Blackburn, who was available to pitch out of the bullpen Thursday night. “Flew into Dallas yesterday . . . We were rerouted to Amarillo [Texas] because of thunderstorms. Sat there for 3 1/2 hours in Amarillo. Finally got to Dallas. Canceled my flight to Tampa. So then we had to rebook everything, fly me up here, and I got into Newark around like 1 to 2 [a.m.]”
That was only a day. What has the past week been like?
“It’s been a whirlwind,” he said.
Between July and August, Blackburn spent nearly six weeks on the injured list with a right shoulder impingement. After five rehab starts, he was activated by the Mets on Aug. 13 and pitched in relief against Atlanta that night, allowing two runs and one hit in five innings. That was his last Mets appearance.
Before his final game with the Mets, Blackburn said it had been a “weird” season. On Thursday, he said he felt he “was in a good spot the last month.”
With the chaos behind him (for now), what does he like about the opportunity with the Yankees?
“I think just the group that's in here,” he said. “There’s obviously talent everywhere you look. In a really good spot for the postseason. I mean, it’s the New York Yankees. It’s cool.”
The Mets traded for Blackburn at the deadline last year, but his season was cut short by a right hand contusion and a spinal fluid leak. The Mets re-signed him to a one-year, $4.05 million contract in the offseason, but he battled right knee inflammation and did not make his season debut until June 2.
The 31-year-old righthander is 0-3 with a 6.85 ERA, 18 strikeouts and eight walks in 23 2/3 innings in seven games (four starts) this season. In 93 career games (86 starts) in nine seasons, the first seven-plus with the Athletics, Blackburn is 22-31 with a 4.96 ERA.
He likely will be a long reliever for the Yankees.
“Some depth, some length,” manager Aaron Boone said. “Our pen right now is not filled with a lot of guys that give us a lot of length. And obviously a track record of success in the big leagues. So a guy that's built up that gives us some coverage if we get in a situation where we need some real length.”
The Yankees’ bullpen should become more crowded with the expected returns of righthander Fernando Cruz and lefthander Ryan Yarbrough, who has made eight starts this season. Cruz (left oblique strain) is scheduled to make a fourth minor-league rehab appearance Friday night in a four-out scenario. Yarbrough (right oblique strain) has made two rehab starts, throwing 50 pitches in 3 1/3 innings with Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre on Wednesday, and will pitch in at least one more minor-league game to continue building up.
Blackburn said he was not surprised that the Mets let him go. The writing was on the wall after a lengthy rehab assignment, fellow starter Frankie Montas’ move to the bullpen and the ensuing call-up of prospect Nolan McLean.
“It was tough,” Blackburn said. “But I think it's kind of a good place to start over. Just kind of try and contribute any way I can here for the rest of this year and go from there.”
Notes & quotes: When Ben Rice hit a solo home run in the second inning Thursday night, it gave the Yankees 20 consecutive runs scored via the home run, according to researcher Sarah Langs. That tied the 2020 Yankees for most consecutive runs scored via the home run by any team in at least the expansion era (1961). It gave the Yankees 15 home runs in two games-plus. Paul Goldschmidt’s RBI single in the fourth ended the streak . . . Giancarlo Stanton started in rightfield on Thursday night. “I think a lot about it,” Boone said. “That's the daily thing. There's always risk when you're doing things. But making sure the dialogue is strong between me and the training staff and me and Giancarlo as far as when we're doing it, how we're doing it. I don't expect him to be in there tomorrow, for example.” . . . Boone does not know when Aaron Judge, still limited to DH duties because of the flexor strain in his right elbow, will return to the outfield. Said Boone: “Continue to progress and hopefully we get to a point there soon, but I don't know when that is.” . . . The Yankees entered Thursday night with five straight victories and had gone 9-3 since Aug. 6 to Boston's 4-8. Entering Aug. 6, the Red Sox had won seven straight to move to 64-51 and the Yankees had lost five straight to drop to 60-54. That made them 18-29 since June 13 after a 42-25 start.
Ben Dickson is Newsday Sports' general assignment reporter. He joined Newsday’s high school sports staff in 2023 after graduating from Maryland, where he covered several of the Terrapins' teams.
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