SAN DIEGO — The Mets avoided the worst with right-hander Paul Blackburn.
CT scans came back negative for any breaks or fractures on his right hand and wrist after the starter was hit by a 100 MPH comeback line drive Friday night in the Mets’ 7-0 loss to the San Diego Padres. It’s still swollen and bruised, but Blackburn is confident he can avoid the injured list.
“No, as of right now,” Blackburn said Saturday at Petco Park. “I know we’re in a situation where we need to need arms and whatnot, but I haven’t heard anything as far as that goes.”
Blackburn is lined up to pitch next Thursday afternoon in Phoenix in the series finale against the Arizona Diamondbacks. The Mets are low on arms with Kodai Senga and Christian Scott both injured and the organization is reluctant to make a move for a Triple-A pitcher.
Asking a prospect like Mike Vasil, Dominic Hamel or Blade Tidwell to make a start in the middle of a playoff race could be dicey, especially since the trio have struggled since they made the jump from Double-A to Triple-A this season. The organization hasn’t been thrilled about what they’ve seen from left-hander Joey Lucchesi or right-hander Tylor Megill this season and right-hander Max Kranick moved to the bullpen in May.
The Mets seem content to let top pitching prospect Brandon Sproat spend time in Triple-A. Sproat is 0-1 with a 9.24 in three starts since his promotion.
Among those pitchers, only Megill is on the 40-man roster.
Blackburn will play catch in San Diego on Sunday, which will give everyone a better idea of whether or not a pitching move needs to be made.
“We’re essentially just trying to flush inflammation out,” Blackburn said. “Kind of playing it by ear as far as pain tolerance, inflammation and obviously, like spinning pitches and stuff.”
“We’ll see,” said manager Carlos Mendoza. “He’s going to try to play catch tomorrow, nothing today. He’s still getting treatment. The good thing is, we got good news, but we’ve got to wait until tomorrow when he’s going to see if he’s able to pick up a baseball and actually go out there and play catch.”
Blackburn struggled in his outing before getting hit with a comebacker, leaving the game in the third inning already down 4-0. He’s made three solid starts since being traded to the Mets from the Oakland A’s at the deadline, and two bad ones. He’s gone 1-2 with a 5.18 ERA over those five starts.
Pitching coach Jeremy Hefner went over video with him Saturday in the clubhouse, which would indicate that the Mets are still planning on having him make his next start.
A 30-year-old former first-round pick, Blackburn has struggled with injuries throughout his career. He missed significant time his rookie season with a bruised forearm/hand and earlier this year he spent time on the injured list with a stress reaction in his foot.
Getting a diagnosis of a bone bruise Saturday was a relief.
“With how the last couple years have gone, for me, I feel like I’ve just had kind of bad luck when it came to injuries,” he said. “With my foot this year, and my hand was broken, I’ve just kind of fallen on some bad luck. Definitely grateful that it’s not broken.”
KIND OF A BIG DEAL
The Mets had only two hits Friday night, but with Francisco Lindor‘s ninth-inning double, the shortstop extended his on-base streak to 22 games. It’s the third-longest active streak in baseball and the second-longest of his career.
TRAINER’S ROOM
Right-hander Sean Reid-Foley is getting treatment for his shoulder impingement but has not been throwing since he was pulled off of his rehab assignment Aug. 14.