Paul Blackburn was supposed to get the ball for the Mets’ Triple-A affiliate in Syracuse on Wednesday afternoon for one more rehab start, but instead woke up to a commotion at his door.
One of his coaches alerted him that the big club wanted him back in Queens immediately, but not before they ran the offer by the veteran right-handed starting pitcher first.
“We got a hold of him and presented the option,” Mets manager Carlos Mendoza said. “Stay there and pitch, or come back and be in the bullpen. Without hesitation, he said, ‘I’ll come back.’ It says a lot about how much he wants to help us, and here he is.”
Blackburn had been sidelined since early July with a shoulder injury, which heaped more frustration on an already difficult season. He lost out on a starting rotation spot in spring training and was demoted to the bullpen, only to land on the injured list just before the start of the regular season with knee inflammation.
He struggled in a swingman role, posting a 7.71 ERA in six appearances (four starts) before the shoulder issue popped up and landed him back on the shelf.
“It’s been weird,” Blackburn said. “That’s all I can really say about it.”
To heap on to the weirdness, he had not been the first choice to return to the show, even with a successful rehab stint, which featured a 2.42 ERA and a 1.150 WHIP across 26 innings with Syracuse. His most recent outing saw him throw 97 pitches, indicating he was fully stretched out, allowing two earned runs on seven hits with three strikeouts over 5.2 innings.
With a rotational spot open after Frankie Montas was demoted to the bullpen, the Mets are calling up top pitching prospect Nolan McLean to start Saturday’s game against the Seattle Mariners, with the initial plan to keep Blackburn down in Triple-A for a little bit longer.
But Tuesday night’s 13-5 win over the Atlanta Braves opened a door for a return to the majors after reliever Justin Hagenman went four sterling, no-hit innings in relief of the ineffective Clay Holmes. In need of a multi-inning option, Blackburn was back in the mix while Hagenman was optioned to the minors.
“After what happened last night, where [Hagenman] pretty much saved our bullpen, for him to finish that game, it felt like we needed the length there to protect some of our guys,” Mendoza said.
At this rate, it does not matter what role Blackburn performs. He just wants to be in one place — preferably the big leagues — rather than taking the constant shuttle between Queens and wherever Triple-A Syracuse is playing that day.
“I just want to pitch. I just want to be in a place and pitch, that’s it,” he said. “I’ve been on a flight every two days for the last month. I just want to be somewhere and pitch.”
