Paul Blackburn Rebounds With Impressive Outing Against Cardinals

As we get closer to Opening Day, the Mets offense seems poised to deliver the run support this team needs to compete for a division title.

The pitching, however, is a different story. With injuries impacting both Sean Manaea and Frankie Montas, the two biggest free agent pitcher signings the team made this offseason, the starting rotation now sits within the hands of the depth David Stearns has built. That depth lies in Tylor Megill. It relies on Griffin Canning and it relies on Paul Blackburn.

Blackburn, now 31 years old, made his fourth spring training appearance on Wednesday, tossing four perfect innings in the Mets’ 2-0 win versus the St. Louis Cardinals and a lineup full of every-day starters.

“I thought the way he pitched today was really good,” said manager Carlos Mendoza postgame.

Paul Blackburn strikes out Lars Nootbaar to end a 1-2-3 first inning pic.twitter.com/RH3rtf8mHb

— SNY (@SNYtv) March 12, 2025

This performance was contrary to his previous spring showings. Over his two appearances prior to Wednesday, Blackburn pitched 3.2 innings, and allowed six earned runs across the span, walking four and allowing two home runs. This is unfortunately a common issue for Blackburn, who has struggled with consistency over his career. 

After an injury-plagued 2024 campaign, Blackburn acting as a formidable number five starter would be massive for the Mets, who are in desperate need of solid pitching depth to replenish their injured rotation. 

Wednesday’s performance was a positive sign, and if he can iron out the kinks he was facing earlier in Spring Training, he has the potential to be effective. After all, his changeup sits in the top ten percent of change-ups league wide in terms of run value. He only used it 18% of the time in 2024, so look to see the potential widening of that usage going forward.

Paul Blackburn was asked if he cares about results in spring training:

“Yes and no. Anytime you go out there and put up zeros and have a good outing, it’s just gonna give you confidence.” pic.twitter.com/Y7qefj6zg7

— SNY (@SNYtv) March 12, 2025

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