The New York Yankees have seemingly broken out of their summer funk, winning five games in a row, including two series' sweeps over the St. Louis Cardinals and Tampa Bay Rays. Now, they are set to begin a pivotal series against the rival Boston Red Sox this weekend, with a chance to catch up with the Toronto Blue Jays for the AL East lead.
On Thursday, the Yankees signed former New York Mets pitcher Paul Blackburn. The Mets recently designated Blackburn for assignment. The move was made to give the Yankees another bullpen option who can pitch multiple innings.
“Our pen right now is not filled with a lot of guys to give us a lot of length,” said Yankees manager Aaron Boone, h/t The Athletic's Chris Kirschner. “Obviously, a track record of success in the big leagues. A guy that’s built up that gives us some coverage if we get in a situation where we need some real length.”
That's all well and good, but this is the same strategy that the Mets employed, and it didn't work.
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Yankees' Paul Blackburn plan is bound to fail
Blackburn spent the majority of his career as a starting pitcher, beginning with the Athletics. His breakout came in the 2022 season when he made it to the All-Star Game. In 2024, the Mets brought in Blackburn and made him the starter.
But during this season, the Mets flipped Blackburn back and forth between the bullpen and starting rotation. In three bullpen appearances for the Mets, Blackburn surrendered nine earned runs on 12 hits in 9.1 innings. His worst appearance came against the Tampa Bay Rays on June 13, where he allowed four earned runs on four hits and was pulled after recording just one out.
Blackburn said before his Mets release that his job switching from the rotation the bullpen was rough on him.
"It's been tough," Blackburn said, h/t CBS Sports. "It's completely different routines. ... I haven't really been down (in the bullpen) for a long time, so I think it's just a lot of trial and error."
The Yankees have dealt with their fair share of bullpen issues this season. Devin williams was demoted from his closer role after multiple blown games. Jake Bird, one of the Yankees' trade deadline acquisitions, was optioned to Triple-A after a rough three appearances with the team. Camilo Doval, who was also acquired at the trade deadline, carries a 6.43 ERA in eight appearances (seven innings). But the team appears to have settled down a bit, especially with David Bednar being the steady presence at the closer position.
But the Yankees may learn that their strategy of using Blackburn as a long-arm in the bullpen may not pan out. Just ask the Mets how that worked out.