Out
Injury Finger
Est. Return 4/14/2023
2022 Stats
W-L
7-6
ERA
4.28
WHIP
1.26
K
89
SV
0
2023 Projections
2023 Fantasy Outlook
Blackburn appeared to be finally turning a corner in his career until fate literally gave him a middle finger. Blackburn was 6-2 with a 2.26 ERA and a 1.07 WHIP through his first 13 starts of 2022 until he began experiencing some middle finger discomfort. He attempted to pitch through it making 8 more starts, but went 1-4 with a 7.94 ERA and a 1.59 WHIP in those final outings before shutting it down for the season and requiring surgery to repair the tear of his flexor tendon sheath in his right middle finger. Blackburn isn't blessed with much velocity or spin, but throws six different pitch types to keep hitters off balance and guessing which of the sextet is coming next. Oakland will give him all the volume he can handle as he is in the first season of arbitration and turns 30 during the season. The volume is what could get him to double-digit wins as the run support is unlikely to do so. He is worthy of a late round selection to see if the repertoire adjustments he made in 2022 can stick and help him pick up where he left off in mid-June. Read Past Outlooks
Throwing from flat ground Thursday
Blackburn (finger) said that he will throw a flat-ground session Thursday, Matt Kawahara of the San Francisco Chronicle reports.
ANALYSIS
Blackburn said that the fingernail avulsion on his pitching hand is healing well, but the Athletics have already ruled him out from being part of the Opening Day rotation. The team hasn't provided a concrete timetable for when Blackburn will be ready to return, but it's a positive sign he's resumed throwing.
Blackburn said that the fingernail avulsion on his pitching hand is healing well, but the Athletics have already ruled him out from being part of the Opening Day rotation. The team hasn't provided a concrete timetable for when Blackburn will be ready to return, but it's a positive sign he's resumed throwing.
Pitching Stats
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2022
2021
2020
2019
2018
2017
2022 MLB Game Log
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Minor League Game Log
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Pitching Appearances Breakdown
Average Pitch Count
81
Last 10 Games
82
Last 5 Games
72
How many pitches does Paul Blackburn generally throw?
1-10
11-20
21-30
31-40
41-50
51-60
61-70
71-80
81-90
91-100
101-110
111-120
121+
What part of the game does Paul Blackburn generally pitch?
1st
2nd
3rd
4th
5th
6th
7th
8th
9th
Extra
% Games Reaching Innings Threshold
% Games By Number of Innings Pitched
Left/Right Pitching Splits
Since 2020
-3%
BAA vs RHP
2022
-4%
BAA vs RHP
| BAA | K | BB | H | HR | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Since 2020vs Left | .279 | 63 | 24 | 83 | 10 | |||
| Since 2020vs Right | .272 | 54 | 18 | 84 | 13 | |||
| 2022vs Left | .260 | 49 | 16 | 58 | 7 | |||
| 2022vs Right | .250 | 40 | 14 | 52 | 8 | |||
| 2021vs Left | .333 | 13 | 6 | 23 | 3 | |||
| 2021vs Right | .309 | 13 | 4 | 29 | 5 | |||
| 2020vs Left | .400 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 0 | |||
| 2020vs Right | .429 | 1 | 0 | 3 | 0 | |||
| More Splits→ | View More Split Stats | |||||||
Home/Away Pitching Splits
Since 2020
-56%
ERA on Road
2022
-74%
ERA on Road
| ERA | WHIP | IP | K/9 | BB/9 | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Since 2020Home | 7.49 | 1.55 | 63.2 | 7.4 | 2.3 | ||||
| Since 2020Away | 3.26 | 1.25 | 88.1 | 6.6 | 2.6 | ||||
| 2022Home | 8.31 | 1.62 | 39.0 | 8.1 | 2.3 | ||||
| 2022Away | 2.12 | 1.06 | 72.1 | 6.7 | 2.5 | ||||
| 2021Home | 4.03 | 1.30 | 22.1 | 6.0 | 1.6 | ||||
| 2021Away | 8.44 | 2.06 | 16.0 | 6.2 | 3.4 | ||||
| 2020Home | 27.00 | 3.00 | 2.1 | 7.7 | 7.7 | ||||
| 2020Away | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | ||||
| More Splits→ | View More Split Stats | ||||||||
Stat Review
How does Paul Blackburn compare to other starting pitchers?
This section compares his stats with all starting pitcher seasons from the previous three seasons (minimum 120 innings)*. The bar represents the player's percentile rank. For example, if the bar is halfway across, then the player falls into the 50th percentile for that stat and it would be considered average.
* Exit Velocity, Barrels/BBE %, Balls Hit 95+ MPH %, and Spin Rate are benchmarked against 2019 data (min 120 IP). See here for more exit velocity/barrels stats plus an explanation of current limitations with that data set.
* Exit Velocity, Barrels/BBE %, Balls Hit 95+ MPH %, and Spin Rate are benchmarked against 2019 data (min 120 IP). See here for more exit velocity/barrels stats plus an explanation of current limitations with that data set.
K/BB
2.97K/9
7.2BB/9
2.4HR/9
1.2Fastball
91.7 mphERA
4.28WHIP
1.26BABIP
.297GB/FB
1.66Left On Base
73.1%Exit Velocity
82.7 mphBarrels/BBE
6.2%Spin Rate
2220 rpmBalls Hit 95+ MPH
29.5%Swinging Strike
9.7%Advanced Pitching Stats
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Defensive Stats
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Stats Vs Today's Lineup
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Recent RotoWire Articles Featuring Paul Blackburn See More
James Anderson updates his pitching prospect tiers for 2023 value only, in which he explains why he is not paying the price to roster Orioles righty Grayson Rodriguez.
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Todd Zola considers how pitchers like Sandy Alcantara might be affected by the new shift rules, which should lead to more groundball hits for lefty batters.
Mound Musings is back for the season and Brad Johnson takes a look at AL West pitching, starting in Houston where a breakout year for Framber Valdez in 2022 offers hope to a lineup in flux.
Past Fantasy Outlooks
2019
2018
2017
A strained right forearm kept Blackburn out until June, and he made just six starts for Oakland before elbow tendinitis shut him down in early July. His ERA came in nearly four runs higher than in his 10-start rookie campaign, sitting at an ugly 7.16, but the underlying numbers told a different story. His strikeout rate nearly doubled, though it still sat at an unimpressive 16.0%, and he walked just 5.0% of opposing batters. His control and groundball profile led to a very respectable 3.59 FIP, with an extremely low 47.1% strand rate appearing to be the primary culprit for his inflated ERA. Blackburn's sample size was too small to conclusively say that he's really improved, however, and he enters the 2018 season with injury questions and a low ceiling due to his lack of whiffs. He'll be battling for a back-end rotation spot at best on a team that's shown a willingness to use bullpen days rather than trust shaky starters.
More Fantasy News
Ruled out for Opening Day
Blackburn (finger) will begin the season on the injured list, Matt Kawahara of the San Francisco Chronicle reports.
ANALYSIS
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Opening Day in jeopardy
Blackburn might not be ready for Opening Day due to a fingernail avulsion on his pitching hand, Martin Gallegos of MLB.com reports.
ANALYSIS
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Enhancing pitch arsenal in spring
Blackburn, whose 2022 season ended in August due to a finger injury, has been working on refining his changeup this spring, Martin Gallegos of MLB.com reports. "It gives me another weapon," Blackburn said. "Going forward, being able to throw more changeups to righties will open up a cutter and curveball for me."
ANALYSIS
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Finger no longer an issue
Blackburn (finger) enters spring training fully healthy after his 2022 season ended due to a tear of the flexor tendon sheath in his right middle finger, Martin Gallegos of MLB.com reports.
ANALYSIS
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Receives $1.9 million for 2023
Blackburn (finger) agreed to a one-year, $1.9 million contract with the A's on Friday to avoid arbitration, Susan Slusser of the San Francisco Chronicle reports.
ANALYSIS
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