Blackburn finds what worked in high school still works
“He doesn’t look any different — other than he’s in a big league park in a big league uniform — than he did when he was here. He’s still the same guy that’s going to go after (hitters).” — Heritage High baseball coach Kevin Brannan
OAKLAND » A’s rookie Paul Blackburn has added about 25 pounds to his 6-foot-1 frame since his days as an ace pitcher for the Heritage High baseball team in Brentwood. A full, yet neatly trimmed beard has replaced the baby-faced look he sported just a few years ago.
Blackburn’s approach on the mound, though, has pretty much remained intact.
“He doesn’t look any different — other than he’s in a big league park in a big league uniform — than he did when he was here,” Heritage baseball coach Kevin Brannan said. “He’s still the same guy that’s going to go after ( hitters).”
With a fastball usually in the 89-92 mph range, Blackburn, 23, won’t be mowing down one big league batter after another any time soon. But his other pitches — a 82-84 mph slider, along with a curveball and changeup — have been good enough to help him register three consecutive quality outings.
Heading into his scheduled start Friday against the New York Mets at Citi Field, Blackburn is 1-0 with the A’s with a 1.83 ERA.
The recipe is simple: work quick, keep the ball down and pitch to contact. In three games with the A’s, Blackburn has eight strikeouts and six walks, but also 34 ground ball outs in 19 2/3 innings.
“Being from this area, we all
saw him in high school, and he’s really kind of the same guy,” A’s assistant general manager Dan Feinstein said. “He’s shown great composure these last few starts, been extremely efficient with his pitches. He’s not going to overpower hitters, but he’s going to throw strikes and mix and get ground balls.”
“Sink the ball, cut the ball. That’s kind of how I pitched in the minors and that’s what’s helped me be successful,” Blackburn said recently. “That’s kind of what I’ve always done and have had to do.”
Blackburn was selected 56th overall in the 2012 MLB draft out of Heritage by the Chicago Cubs and rose through their farm system before he reached Double A in 2016. He was traded to Seattle midway through last season and stayed with the Mariners’ Double-A team before he came to A’s in November as part of the deal that sent Danny Valencia to Seattle.
Blackburn started this season in Triple-A Nashville. He went 5-6, but had a respectable 3.05 ERA in 15 games.
“He’s still such a young guy. Really for him, it was about getting innings under his belt and refining his whole repertoire,” Feinstein said about the message the A’s had for Blackburn after spring training. “Paul had already done a lot of things very well. His high ground ball rate really staves off any real sustained damage against him. So really it was just to improve upon his strengths and just get innings under his belt.”
Blackburn was officially recalled by the A’s on July 1. He quietly let Brannan and immediate family members know a few days earlier that he was coming up, even though it had the potential to be a spot start.
But that day, before what he estimated to be about 300 to 400 friends and family members, Blackburn managed his emotions and allowed no earned runs in six innings in his debut in what became a 4-3 A’s loss to the Atlanta Braves.
“I just said throw your game,” said Josh Phegley, who caught Blackburn for the first time that day. “Do what you want to do and do what you know you can do best. He was pretty assertive with what he wanted to do. Just the demeanor and everything, I liked what I saw.”
Blackburn had the same approach with Heritage, where he went 24-8 over three seasons on the varsity team with a 1.04 ERA.
“He learned how to pitch at a very young age,” Brannan said. “One of the reasons he’s had success is that he knows what his strengths are, knows that he has to locate the ball well and has a really good plan on what he wants to do.”
Now knowing he could get big league hitters out, Blackburn followed up his debut with a sterling performance against the Mariners on July 6. In what became his first major league win, Blackburn allowed one earned run in 7 2/3 innings in a 7-4 A’s victory. Blackburn, true to form, didn’t have a strikeout but induced 14 ground ball outs.
“The biggest thing was just trusting your stuff and locating,” Blackburn said of his adjustment to the big leagues. “That’s the kind of pitcher I am, is location. That’s one thing I really focused on, is just trusting your stuff.”
Blackburn’s last outing, against Cleveland on July 15, wasn’t quite as stellar. He walked four batters and gave up three earned runs, including a two-run home run to Edwin Encarnacion on a hanging breaking ball.
“The big jump with big league hitters,” Phegley said, “is that they hit mistakes almost every time.”
Blackburn recovered from Encarnacion’s fourthinning blast to last six innings. In the sixth, Blackburn allowed the tying run but with Jose Ramirez in scoring position, recorded two straight groundouts to get out of the jam and preserve the 3-3 tie. The A’s would go on to win 5-3 on Khris Davis’ two-run homer in the bottom of the ninth.
“He battled again,” A’s manager Bob Melvin said of Blackburn after the game. “This was probably the first outing where he was a little vulnerable, but in the early innings, it was the same thing we’ve seen: late sink and subtle movement off all of his pitches.”
Blackburn’s performances have opened the door for him to potentially stick around the A’s starting rotation for some time. Sonny Gray’s name has been swirling in trade discussions, but if he’s not dealt by Aug. 1 and Kendall Graveman makes his return from a shoulder injury next month, as is hoped, the A’s will have a decision to make on whom they want to keep.
So far, Blackburn is making a case to stay in Oakland.
“You try not to get all caught up in that,” he said. “Just go out and do what you can do, be the best you can be and work hard at it.”
Said Brannan: “I think what he’s doing is he’s making it almost impossible for them to say, ‘Let’s try somebody else.’ I think he’s definitely taken advantage of his opportunity.”