Former Oakland A’s pitcher Paul Blackburn is set to make his debut for the New York Mets on Friday, facing the Los Angeles Angels. Blackburn, who spent parts of eight seasons with the A’s, has faced the Angels six times during his tenure in the AL West and has never lost to them.
In those six starts, Blackburn boasts a 4-0 record with a 3.27 ERA and a 1.212 WHIP over 33 innings. Among his former AL West opponents, the Angels are Blackburn’s most favorable matchup. In contrast, he has struggled against the Houston Astros and the Texas Rangers, with a 9.74 ERA in seven starts and a 12.00 ERA in five starts, respectively. He has fared slightly better against the Seattle Mariners, with a 2-5 record and a 5.89 ERA in nine starts.
While Blackburn has had success against the Angels overall, his ERA at Angel Stadium stands at 4.22 in four starts, though he has secured three of his four wins there.
If Blackburn continues pitching every fifth day, his next starts will be on Wednesday in Colorado against the Rockies, and then on Tuesday, August 13, against his former team, the Oakland A’s.
Throughout his career, Blackburn has a 4.83 ERA in 81 appearances (77 starts) over eight seasons. Though not an ace, he has been a roughly league-average pitcher for the past three years with Oakland, despite missing time each season. His presence on the Mets’ mound could help the team in their wild-card chase by providing solid innings and keeping them competitive in games.
The A’s traded the 30-year-old Blackburn, who has one more season of team control, for right-hander Kade Morris. Morris is currently ranked as the A’s No. 20 prospect by MLB Pipeline but may move down a few spots once players from July’s MLB Draft are added to the list.