Paul Blackburn (baseball)

Paul Cady Blackburn (born December 4, 1993) is an American professional baseball pitcher for the Oakland Athletics of Major League Baseball (MLB). He made his MLB debut in 2017. Blackburn was Oakland's lone representative for the 2022 All-Star Game.

Chicago Cubs
Blackburn was drafted by the Chicago Cubs in the first round of the 2012 Major League Baseball draft out of Heritage High School in Brentwood, California. He made his professional debut that season with the Rookie Arizona League Cubs, going 2–0 with a 3.48 ERA in nine games (six starts). He played in 2013 with the Class A-Short Season Boise Hawks, going 2–3 with a 3.33 ERA in 13 games (12 starts), and in 2014 with the Class A Kane County Cougars,  pitching to a 9–4 record with a 3.23 ERA in 24 starts. He spent 2015 with the Class A-Advanced Myrtle Beach Pelicans where he compiled a 7–5 record with a 3.11 ERA and a 1.24 WHIP in 18 starts. Blackburn began 2016 with the Double-A Tennessee Smokies.

Seattle Mariners
On July 20, 2016, the Cubs traded Blackburn and Dan Vogelbach to the Seattle Mariners for Mike Montgomery and Jordan Pries. Seattle assigned him to the Double-A Jackson Generals. In 26 total games (25 starts) between Tennessee and Jackson, he was 9–5 with a 3.27 ERA.

Oakland Athletics
On November 12, 2016, Blackburn was traded to the Oakland Athletics for utilityman Danny Valencia. The Athletics added him to their 40-man roster a few days later. He began 2017 with the Triple-A Nashville Sounds. Through June 26, 2017, Blackburn had a 5–6 record with a 3.05 ERA and 56 strikeouts for the Sounds. On June 28, he was named to the 2017 Pacific Coast League All-Star Team.

Blackburn was called up to the Oakland Athletics to make his major league debut on July 1, 2017, against the Atlanta Braves. In his debut, Blackburn threw 6 innings, giving up 3 hits and no earned runs on 96 pitches in a 3-4 loss. He earned his first career win five days later on July 6 at Seattle when he threw 7 2/3 innings, giving up 8 hits, 1 walk, and one earned run in a 7-4 win. He spent the remainder of the season with Oakland, going 3–1 with a 3.22 ERA in ten starts. On August 22, Blackburn was struck on the hand by a line drive off the bat of Trey Mancini in the fifth inning during a start in Baltimore. He exited the game and did not pitch again that season.

In 2018, he began the season on the disabled list. He was activated on June 7 and reported to Oakland, compiling a 7.16 ERA in six starts. On August 28, Blackburn was placed on the disabled list again with a forearm injury.

In 2019, Blackburn appeared in 4 games, pitching to a 10.64 ERA with 8 strikeouts in 11 innings pitched. Blackburn only made one appearance in 2020, giving up 7 earned runs in 2.1 innings pitched.

On February 23, 2021, Blackburn was designated for assignment after the signing of Mitch Moreland. On February 27, Blackburn was outrighted to the Triple-A Las Vegas Aviators and invited to Spring Training as a non-roster invitee. He spent most of the season with the Triple–A Las Vegas Aviators before having his contract selected on August 18.

In 2022, Blackburn's record with Oakland was 7–6 with a 4.28 ERA in 21 starts. Blackburn was Oakland's lone representative for the 2022 All-Star Game.

On January 13, 2023, Blackburn signed a one-year, $1.9 million contract with the Athletics, avoiding salary arbitration. Blackburn began the 2023 season on the disabled list and made three rehab starts with Stockton Ports and Las Vegas Aviators before being activated and starting for Oakland on May 29. During the 2023 season, he went 4-7 with a 4.43 ERA and a career-high 104 strikeouts in 21 appearances (20 starts).

On January 11, 2024, Blackburn signed a one-year, $3.45 million contract with the Athletics, avoiding salary arbitration for a second time. Blackburn began the season by throwing 19.1 innings without giving up a run over his first three starts. He set the team record for the most scoreless innings to start the season by a starting pitcher since the team moved to Oakland. The scoreless innings streak ended with 22.1 scoreless innings when he gave up a run in the fourth inning of his fourth start. It became the second longest season-opening scoreless inning streak in Athletics franchise history and the longest since Harry Krause in 1910. On May 13, Blackburn was placed on the 15-day injury list with a right-foot injury. He was transferred to the 60–day injured list on June 4.