It didn’t take lengthy for Paul Blackburn to discover a new staff.
Lower than per week after he was designated for task by the Mets, the veteran right-hander joined the Yankees with the expectation he’ll pitch out of the bullpen.
“I think it’s a good place to start over,” Blackburn mentioned. “Just trying to contribute any way I can here for the rest of this year and go from there.”
The Yankees added Blackburn, 31, to the energetic roster earlier than Thursday evening’s sequence opener towards the Boston Purple Sox within the Bronx and optioned fellow right-hander Allan Winans to Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre.
Blackburn went 0-3 with a 6.85 ERA in seven appearances, together with 4 begins, with the Mets this season, throughout which he endured a number of stints on the injured record as he handled proper knee irritation, an sickness and a proper shoulder impingement.
He returned from the shoulder harm on Aug. 13 and restricted the Atlanta Braves to 2 runs in 5 innings in reduction that day.
That was Blackburn’s remaining look with the Mets earlier than they designated him for task on Saturday. They introduced his launch on Tuesday.
“It’s been weird, honestly,” Blackburn mentioned. “I didn’t know what to expect or what to do with it. Just tried to stay ready and continued to be available in case someone called.”
The Yankees known as on Tuesday, mentioned Blackburn, who then spent Wednesday navigating flight delays and cancellations as tried to journey from Idaho to satisfy his new staff in Tampa.
The flight points finally prevented Blackburn from being activated for Wednesday’s sport, and he as an alternative arrived at Newark Airport at round 1 a.m. on Thursday.
Blackburn brings “depth” and “length” to the Yankees bullpen, supervisor Aaron Boone mentioned.
“Our pen right now is not filled with a lot of guys that give us a lot of length,” Boone mentioned. “Obviously [he has] a track record of success in the big leagues [and is] a guy that’s built up that can give us some coverage if we get in a situation where we need some real length.”
An All-Star in 2022, Blackburn entered Thursday with a 4.96 ERA in 93 appearances, together with 86 begins, over 9 MLB seasons, the primary seven-and-a-half of which he spent with the A’s.
Blackburn repeatedly skilled dangerous harm luck after the Mets acquired him earlier than the 2024 commerce deadline. A proper hand contusion that he suffered on a comebacker and a cerebrospinal fluid leak that finally ended his 2024 season preceded this yr’s accidents.
“I feel like I got myself into a good spot, physically and timing-wise, throughout my mechanics,” Blackburn mentioned. “I feel like I was in a good spot [for] the last month. I feel like I’m still in that spot.”
REHABBING RELIEVERS
Fernando Cruz is about to pitch in one other rehab outing on Friday, possible as a four-out look.
It will likely be the fourth rehab look for Cruz (indirect), who has not pitched a couple of inning any of the earlier three.
“I know the temptation will be to lean on him, as good as he’s been all year and what we think of him, so I want him to have a little bit of volume built so that when he does get here, he’s ready to jump into any role,” Boone mentioned.
Cruz, 35, has been on the IL since June 30. The fitting-hander owns a 3.00 ERA in 32 appearances.
Ryan Yarbrough can also be due for not less than yet another rehab look, with the Yankees wanting the left-handed swingman to proceed to construct up his pitch depend.
Yarbrough (indirect) threw 50 pitches over 3.1 innings in his earlier outing on Wednesday.
“With a little bit of a lack of starting depth here down the stretch, we think it’s important to build that out,” Boone mentioned.
Yarbrough has been on the IL since June 22. He has a 3.90 ERA over 16 appearances, together with eight begins.
Boone didn’t have an replace on Jonathan Loáisiga, whom the supervisor mentioned Wednesday possible has a flexor pressure.
Initially Revealed: August 21, 2025 at 5:55 PM EDT
