Paul Blackburn has gone from uncertainty in Queens to a steady, useful arm in the Bronx, and the difference has shown up in the numbers.
In his first full season with the Yankees, Blackburn owns a 2.00 ERA across 33 relief appearances and two starts, a sharp turnaround after a rocky stretch with the Mets. He spent a season and a half with the crosstown club after being acquired at the 2024 trade deadline, bouncing between the rotation and long relief while never quite knowing what the next assignment would be.
“I had some outings out of the pen with the Mets last year, but I was never told that,” Blackburn told The Daily News’ Gary Phillips earlier this month. “It was like, ‘Hey, we’re gonna put you in the pen this time around, [but] you might start next time around,’ so it was a lot of uncertainty.”
“I felt like we were just playing a video game. Like that’s not how it really works,” Blackburn added.
The results reflected that instability. Blackburn pitched in 12 games for the Mets and finished with a 6.00 ERA before the club released him in August 2025. He then joined the Yankees, worked in eight games and posted a 5.28 ERA, and the team brought him back on a new deal this offseason.
Since then, he has settled into a real role. Blackburn has been part of a Yankees bullpen that owns the second-lowest ERA in MLB at 3.06, and he has gone multiple innings 22 times this season. He has also put together a 0.99 ERA since May 16.
Aaron Boone singled him out after Blackburn delivered two scoreless relief innings in Wednesday’s 2-0 win over the Pirates.
“For a while there, he was a good secret,” Boone said. “Then about a week or 10 days ago, somebody asked me about the job he had done because it had been about a month-plus of some really good work, whether it be a high-leverage situation [or] giving you multiple innings on a given night.”
In Other News...
Mets Suddenly Have A Little Known Lefty Fans Need To Watch
MLB Pipelines latest refresh gave the Mets another look at how their farm system is sorting itself out, with recent draft picks still waiting to be folded in and more changes expected by Aug. 3. Jonah Tong remains at the top of the list even after a rough stretch, while Elian Pena has climbed, but the more interesting name for anyone tracking the lower levels may be a left-hander who has quietly put together a strong run in High-A Brooklyn.
He is working with the kind of command and strikeout profile that tends to get attention once the industry starts digging deeper into a system, and the early signs suggest there may be more here than a nice month or two. The Mets do not need to rush him, but if this level of performance holds, he could force his way into a much more prominent conversation than the one he started in. [Read more 🡒]
Phillies Linked To Francisco Lindor In Trade Idea Mets Fans Need To See
The Phillies are still hunting for help before the trade deadline, with pitching and bullpen upgrades at the top of the list, but a recent hypothetical involving Francisco Lindor has stirred up a different kind of conversation. For Mets fans, it is the sort of idea that gets attention fast, since Lindor remains one of the most recognizable names on the roster and a player whose value can still spark debate even in a season where his numbers have been uneven.
Philadelphias interest, at least in theory, runs into a simple problem: the fit does not look clean. The Phillies already have Trea Turner locked in at shortstop, and Lindors current production has not exactly made it easy to justify a major long-term swing. If the Phillies are going to make a move, the more sensible path may be a shorter-term addition in the outfield rather than taking on another big commitment for the heart of the infield. [Read more 🡒]
Red Sox Just Exposed What Mets Fans Feared All Along
Bostons season has offered a cleaner blueprint than the one the Mets have been trying to follow, and that gap shows up in the little decisions as much as the big ones. The Red Sox moved on from their manager earlier, made trades that fit more naturally, and found ways to cover for departures without asking the wrong players to do the wrong jobs. For the Mets, the contrast has been harder to ignore because the roster has spent too much time being asked to solve problems with awkward fits instead of straightforward answers.
Jorge Polancos usage has become a good example of the kind of strain that can follow when a team is still searching for stability, especially with injuries and defense limiting how much value he can provide. Boston, meanwhile, has at least been able to let one key name leave and keep the machine moving, even if the replacement took some time to settle in. The bigger question for the Mets is whether they can stop patching holes long enough to build something that looks as coherent as the Red Sox have managed to make theirs. [Read more 🡒]