NEW YORK — Mets right-hander Paul Blackburn was sleeping when pitching coach Jeremy Hefner called him late Tuesday night.
Blackburn was in Rochester, resting ahead of his rehab start with Triple-A Syracuse on Wednesday. But the Mets had news to deliver to the pitcher.
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Unable to reach him by phone, they decided to visit him directly.
“I woke up and somebody’s banging on my door,” Blackburn told reporters standing at his locker in the Mets’ clubhouse. “It was like 11:15 p.m.”
The news: he was being scratched from his start in Triple-A and instead being activated off the injured list. After 44 days on the IL with a right shoulder impingement, Blackburn was finally headed back to the big leagues.
“Definitely surprised,” Blackburn said. “Happy to be back.”
The Mets intend to use Blackburn out of the bullpen, replacing Justin Hagenman, who tossed four scoreless innings in Tuesday’s 13-5 win over the Braves.
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“I feel like we need the length to protect some of our guys,” Mets manager Carlos Mendoza said about bringing back Blackburn. …
“It says a lot about how much he wants to help us and here he is.”
Blackburn allowed six earned runs in 21 1/3 innings (2.42 ERA) in four rehab starts with Triple-A Syracuse.
He admits that this has been a “weird” season for him. He got off to a late start in spring training after undergoing cerebrospinal fluid leak repair in the offseason.
After finally getting on the mound, making five Grapefruit League starts, he landed back on the IL with right knee inflammation on March 24.
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On June 2, the Mets finally activated him from the IL. He managed six appearances, allowing 16 earned runs in 18 2/3 innings (7.71 ERA) before landing back on the injured list.
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Manny Gómez may be reached at mgomez@njadvancemedia.com.