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An Ace Is Emerging in the Athletics Rotation

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Off the field distractions have dominated the headlines surrounding the Oakland Athletics in recent years. However, positive developments are happening on the field, even if not everyone is paying attention. Mason Miller and his Chapman-like fastball have started to gain attention, but it’s time to notice another arm on the A’s staff. Specifically, starter Paul Blackburn and his record-breaking scoreless start to the season.

Paul Blackburn: An Emerging Ace For the Oakland Athletics

Paul Blackburn’s Scoreless 2024

In Friday’s start against the Washington Nationals, Blackburn went 6 1/3 innings with four strikeouts while giving up five hits, two walks, and no runs. This outing extended Blackburn’s scoreless streak to 19 1/3 innings across his first three starts this season.

According to Sarah Langs of MLB, Blackburn became the first pitcher in Athletics history to start a year with three scoreless outings. Furthermore, Blackburn has the most innings (by a margin of 4 ⅓ innings) among starters with a 0.00 ERA this year.

Blackburn’s success has stemmed from an ability to induce soft contact, limit walks, and generate ground balls. He doesn’t throw hard or strike many hitters out, but he keeps the ball on the ground and lets his defenders do their job.

On Friday, the 30-year-old generated two double plays that erased leadoff walks. Blackburn tried (and succeeded) to strike more batters out in 2023, but it came with an inflated walk rate and decreased ground ball rate. His overall numbers also were not as good as his best performance.

At this point, it’s clear that Blackburn knows what he needs to do in order to be the best version of himself. He won’t strike a ton of hitters out and batters might get hits off him. But, he won’t accentuate the damage with walks and can get two outs in one play with ground balls.

Most modern baseball evaluators would rather have a pitcher with a solid strikeout ability to avoid the chances of errors, misplays, or fluky events. But some pitchers clearly know how to excel by missing barrels. Blackburn’s scoreless streak won’t last forever, but that doesn’t mean he’s guaranteed to implode.

Can Blackburn Keep It Up?

It will be interesting to see how the season progresses for the Oakland ace. While Blackburn has had hot stretches before, he hasn’t been able to stay healthy or maintain his success across a full season. For example, his best season came in 2022. He represented the Athletics at the All-Star Game and looked like a prime mid-summer trade candidate after a strong start.

However, he had a few blow-up outings in late June and July that tarnished his overall numbers. Additionally, he did not have the opportunity to finish strong, as a finger injury ended his season after an August 4 start. His 21 starts, 4.28 ERA, and 111 1/3 innings in 2022 all represented career-bests.

Blackburn won’t be scoreless all season, and it’s fair to wonder just how hard he will crash. Can he finish the season with a mid-3 ERA? Or will injuries and blowups result in another disappointing finish?

The next few months will be huge for Blackburn. First, if he continues to pitch well, he will likely represent one of the better pitchers available at the deadline. At that point, he will have a year and a half to pitch on a likely bigger stage before he reaches free agency.

Blackburn’s scoreless streak and early season dominance have gone largely unnoticed. However, he can earn himself a lot of money and respect if he can finally put it all together for an extended time.

 

Photo Credit: © Rick Osentoski-USA TODAY Sports

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