New York Mets starting pitcher Paul Blackburn was placed on the 15-day injured list, retroactive to Aug. 24, after suffering a right-hand contusion, the team announced prior to Sunday afternoon’s series finale against the San Diego Padres.
Blackburn took a line drive off the right hand during the third inning of Friday night’s 7-0 loss when he tried to shield his head from a David Peralta line drive.
An initial x-ray and CT scan ruled out a broken hand but after trying to have a catch on Saturday, the Mets received a better idea of just how severe the contusion was.
Reliever Huascar Brazoban, who was optioned to Triple-A, earlier this week, was recalled to take Blackburn’s roster spot.
Blackburn was acquired by the Mets at the trade deadline from the Oakland Athletics where he struggled with inconsistencies. He allowed one earned run in each of his first two starts with New York before getting tagged for six by his former team on Aug. 13. He rebounded with one run on four hits in six innings on Aug. 18 against the Miami Marlins, but allowed four runs in 2.1 innings on Friday against the Padres before getting pulled. He was ultimately saddled with five earned runs on 10 hits on the night.
His departure puts further stress on a starting rotation that has been stretched thin this summer. Kodai Senga is out for the season and Christian Scott is recovering from a sprained UCL, leaving Jose Quintana, Luis Severino, Sean Manaea, and David Peterson as the team’s only viable starters right now.
Jose Butto, who has performed well as a multi-inning reliever for the better part of the last two months, could get the call back to the rotation. Tylor Megill, currently in Triple-A, also remains an option to perform as a spot starter for the next few weeks.
