Coming off a 2024 season that could reasonably be described as “amazing,” when they raced all the way to the National League Championship Series, the New York Mets approached 2025 determined to do even better. Of course, their historic signing of Juan Soto to a record-shattering 13-year, $765 million contract was a huge step in that direction. When they inked their own free agent first baseman Pete Alonso, to a two-year, $54 million deal at the outset of spring training, the Mets sent a decisive message that they would be an offensive powerhouse.
The Flushing, Queens, club did not hold back on shoring up the starting rotation, either. But things on that front have not worked out exactly as planned. Their first free agent signing of the offseason, former Milwaukee Brewers righty Frankie Montas, went down with a high-grade lat strain early in the spring and is not anticipated to join the Mets starting rotation until June.
Then midway through March, 33-year-old Sean Manaea, whose late-season surge last year helped propel the Mets into the postseason and to just two wins away from the World Series, went down with strained right oblique muscle. The Mets re-signed Manaea to a three-year, $75 million contract this offseason.
New Starting Rotation Injury Strikes
So the Mets were already set to open their 2025 schedule missing two of their five regular starting pitchers. But on Wednesday the Mets announced that they were now down by three-fifths of the rotation, when they revealed that No. 5 starter Paul Blackburn would miss the start of the season with inflammation of his right knee.
âHe got through his most recent outing in good shape, no problem,â Mets president of baseball operations David Stearns said, as quoted by amNY. “Reported the next day with a little bit of knee soreness. It persisted the following day.”
Blackburn, 31, was the 56th overall draft pick in 2012, selected by the Chicago Cubs. He was traded by the Cubs in July of 2016 to the Seattle Mariners, and then later that year to the Oakland Athletics. He made his MLB debut in 2017 and pitched for the Athletics until last season, when he was dealt to the Mets at the trade deadline.
He started five games for the Mets with a 5.18 ERA before hitting the 15-day injured list on August 25 with a bruised hand. Then in September, doctors discovered a cerebrospinal fluid leak in Blackburn’s back. The condition required surgery that shelved the righty for about four months.
Good News on Other Injured Starters From Stearns
Blackburn was just battling his way back from the surgery when he began to feel soreness in his knee. But according to Stearns, the knee condition is not considered serious. Blackburn will be shut down from throwing for about 10 days, and is expected to return sometime in April.
Stearns, briefing reporters on Wednesday, did convey some good news â or at least cautiously optimistic news â about the other injuries to the starting rotation. According to Stearns, as quoted by the New York sports cable network SNY, Montas recently underwent new medical imaging and has shown “really good healing” but is a âweek or two away” from throwing again.
As for Manaea, the 2024 12-game winner is “really going through his rehab process at a really good clip and weâre excited about that,” Stearns said, as quoted by SNY.
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