LOS ANGELES -- Over the past 13 months, Paul Blackburn’s list of maladies has included a stress reaction in the fifth metatarsal of his right foot; a badly bruised pitching hand stemming from a comebacker that struck him on the mound; a cerebrospinal fluid leak necessitating a series of platelet-rich plasma injections, a blood patch procedure and eventually surgery; an inflamed right knee; and, for good measure, the flu.
“There was a lot of uncertainty about how I was going to come back from it or if I was ever going to come back from it,” Blackburn said. "So I think just being able to step foot on a big league mound again … and enjoy the energy and enjoy the game, playing the best -- like, there’s nothing better than that.”
From the earliest moments of Monday’s 4-3, 10-inning Mets win over the Dodgers, however, it was clear that Blackburn had more in mind than simply making it back to the mound. He intended to thrive.
The result was, on a personal level, one of the most impactful starts of Blackburn’s nine-year career. Making his first Major League start in more than nine months, Blackburn blanked the defending World Series champions for five innings. He struck out Shohei Ohtani twice, then, with the tying runs on base in the fifth, induced an inning-ending groundout from the reigning National League MVP.
By that point, Blackburn held the lead thanks to Francisco Lindor’s sixth leadoff homer of the season. The Mets wound up taking the long way to victory after Edwin Díaz blew his first save of the season, with Francisco Alvarez finally doubling home the go-ahead run in the 10th and Lindor adding a crucial insurance run with an RBI single.
“It was amazing,” Lindor said of Blackburn's return. “I was super happy. I was happy for him. He’s been going through a lot of things, and he’s been grinding just as much as anybody. Just because he hasn’t played, doesn’t mean he has not been working hard.”
To the contrary, the fact that Blackburn found immediate success was hardly the product of luck. Once he grew healthy enough to start throwing again over the offseason, Blackburn began tinkering with his pitch grips -- a process that intensified this spring under the tutelage of pitching coach Jeremy Hefner. Understanding that Blackburn is not a hard thrower, the Mets wanted him to add as much movement as possible to his pitches without sacrificing the command that made him an effective big leaguer in the first place.
So Blackburn split his fingers further apart on his sinker, turning it more into a “splinker.” He made small changes to add spin to his curveball, depth to his changeup and sweep to his sweeper. By the time he debuted at Dodger Stadium, Blackburn had scrapped his four-seam fastball altogether, relying more on his cutter instead.
“We just tried to maximize the movement on all the pitches,” Hefner said.
While Blackburn healed and tweaked, the other members of New York’s rotation were thriving, giving Blackburn the luxury of seven rehab starts. He used them to continue refining his pitch mix, before debuting it in front of a hostile crowd at Chavez Ravine.
In the first inning, Blackburn opened his night by striking out Ohtani. He erased a leadoff walk in the second with a double play, then fanned Ohtani again in the third. It wasn’t until the fifth that Blackburn faced much trouble at all. But with Ohtani at the plate, he drew upon the lessons he learned over more than a dozen past meetings -- most of them with Blackburn on the A’s and Ohtani on the Angels.
“I knew what he looked like in the box,” Blackburn said. “He’s gotten me once. I know the pitches I’ve made to him in the past, and I knew how I had success with him before. I just trusted that.”
Thanks to Lindor’s homer, Blackburn was in line for the win until Díaz’s blown save spoiled it. Instead, the Mets needed an RBI double in the 10th from Alvarez, who called the feeling “really, really good,” plus a run-scoring hit from Lindor and a two-out save by José Buttó to escape Dodger Stadium with a victory.
As for Blackburn, he’s about to head to the bullpen despite his success, because the Mets have no room in their rotation. But if he continues to pitch even remotely this well, Blackburn will remain a significant part of New York’s pitching plans throughout the summer.
Said Alvarez: “When he’s locating his pitches the way that he did today, he’s always going to have success.”