Paul Blackburn breezed through his first inning of spring training against the Marlins on Wednesday, recording three outs in seven pitches. Four days later, against a much more daunting Red Sox lineup, it was a different story.

Paul Blackburn. Photo Credit: Sam Navarro-Imagn Images

Blackburn gave up four runs, including a ground-rule double with the bases loaded to Masataka Yoshida in his first frame. Blackburn struggled to the point where, after 23 pitches and just one out, he was pulled. Once reliever Douglas Orellana cleaned up his mess, Blackburn re-entered the ballgame, which often happens in the spring to allow pitchers to get their work while not over-taxing them in a particular inning. In the second inning, he retired the side.

After throwing strikes against the Marlins, Blackburn threw 17 strikes and 15 balls to Boston. He got behind 2-0 to Alex Bregman with no one on and one out in the first before the team’s newest free agent acquisition hit a single. He then walked Triston Casas. With runners on base and in some danger, Blackburn gave up a single and the ground-rule double, both on the first pitch, to Trevor Story and Yoshida, respectively.

“Sinker’s been a pitch I’ve been working on, today I just really couldn’t control it,” Blackburn told the media after finishing his outing, “That’s what spring training is for. I feel like (Francisco Alvarez) and I talked in between innings after the first and made a little bit of an adjustment as far as set-up and location-wise, and I feel like it was better in the second inning.”

A kitchen sink pitcher, Blackburn threw his sinker a career-low 13.6% of the time in 2024. It was also the least effective pitch within his arsenal. Blackburn’s sinker held a run value of negative seven in 2024, and hitter’s batted .478 against the bitch (.344 xBA) and slugged .674 (.475 xSLG). According to Baseball Savant, Blackburn’s fastball run value in 2024 was -16 (the second percentile). However, his offspeed and breaking run value were both three (84th percentile for offspeed and 71st percentile for breaking).

Blackburn’s manager agreed it was a mixed bag, calling his performance “okay“.

“They got him in that first inning where he got behind the hitters,” Carlos Mendoza said. “It was good to see him go back out there for a second inning, second up, and make some adjustments, and he was a lot better.”

Mendoza also stressed that coming off of what he called a “freak injury,” Blackburn experiencing a spinal fluid leak in his back last September, he’s happy to see him pitching healthily

“The fact that he’s out there competing, we’re not worried about results right now,” Mendoza said, “It’s more about getting him feeling good physically and then working on his pitches.”

Fringe starters like Blackburn, Tylor Megill and Griffin Canning must make every spring start count. With both Frankie Montas and Sean Manaea expected to begin the season on the injured list, two spots in the rotation are up for grabs.