JUPITER, Fla. — Paul Blackburn needed only seven pitches to retire the Miami Marlins‘ first three hitters Wednesday in his first Grapefruit League start of spring training. The one-inning outing might not have looked like much, but to the Mets and Blackburn, it was significant.
It was the first competitive outing since the right-hander underwent surgery to repair a cerebrospinal fluid leak in his mid back. It was a freak injury of sorts, one the doctors were left scratching their heads over since typically they only see a leak like that with an impact or some sort of trauma to the back. The conservative timeline for the October procedure was 4-5 months for a recovery, but Blackburn is well ahead of schedule with a start in February.
“The fact that he’s facing real competition, that’s a huge step for him and for us,” said manager Carlos Mendoza. “The guy that we know is going to throw strikes and he’s going to attack the zone.”
Blackburn threw seven pitches, all for strikes, so yeah, you could say he attacked the zone.
“I feel like I can move the ball and spin stuff normally,” he said. “Everything feels good out there.”
Blackburn put a heavy emphasis on his sinker and sweeper over the winter. When the Mets acquired him at the trade deadline from the A’s last summer, pitching coach Jeremy Hefner asked how comfortable he would be making some adjustments with both pitches and Blackburn, 31, was open to feedback.
He started working with a new grip on his sinker and was getting comfortable with it when he was injured in San Diego in August. Then came the back injury and there was little he could do the rest of the way. When Blackburn met with the Mets in November before he was able to start throwing again, Hefner revisited the changes.
In the past, his sweeper was more of a slurve, but there wasn’t enough to differentiate it from his curveball. Blackburn eliminated the vertical break, flattening it out to break on a horizontal plane.
“I think it’ll just be a good separator from my curveball, as well as kind of introducing just more run on my sinker,” Blackburn recently told the Daily News. “I think my sinker and my sweeper are going to overlay really well.”
The California native now calls Idaho home in the offseason, which forces him to primarily throw inside. Blackburn grew more comfortable with both pitches as the winter progressed, but knew the real test would be throwing it outside to see how it played in the elements. As it turns out, they play well. Blackburn worked on refining his sinker and sweeper in the early days of camp.
Wednesday against the Marlins, he was exceptionally pleased with the sinker. He got Kyle Stowers to roll over one on the first pitch. He then threw two more to Connor Norby, striking him out on the third pitch with a slider. He threw two cutters to Jesus Sanchez, a left-handed hitter, and then a slider. Sanchez grounded it right to Jeff McNeil at second base.
He accomplished what he wanted to, before throwing about 15 more pitches in the bullpen to get up to 20, which is what he’s aiming for each time out at the moment.
“We kind of came in talking about using the sinker. First pitch of the game, sinker [for a] ground-out,” Blackburn said. “Next two pitches were both sinkers, and we worked on my slider as well. So I kind of put them away with the slider, and I want to throw some cutters up and in to a lefty.”
At the start of camp, the Mets were hopeful that Blackburn would be ready by Opening Day. There was never a doubt in Blackburn’s mind that he would be ready. Now, with Sean Manaea and Frankie Montas both set to start the season on the injured list, the Mets will need him to start the season in the rotation.
“I’m extremely excited for this year,” Blackburn said. “I’ve kind of put everything from last year behind me and I feel like I’m in a good spot.”