Mets’ Paul Blackburn aces final rehab start with Syracuse

Blackburn was dominant for Syracuse, tossing seven innings of one-hit ball while walking two and striking out six. Perhaps the most important aspect of the outing was that Blackburn threw 87 pitches, putting him in line to take a full starter's workload if the Mets opt to move in that direction once he is activated from the injured list.

Since Blackburn is out of options, the Mets will need to send down a pitcher in order to activate him from the injured list next week. Max Kranick and Huascar Brazoban both have minor league options remaining but have been valuable contributors to the big league bullpen, making them unlikely choices to be sent down to find a roster spot for Blackburn.

The Mets could opt to try and sneak either Genesis Cabrera or newly acquired Jose Castillo through waivers if they want to swap Blackburn for a reliever, but one name to watch here could be starter Tylor Megill, who has struggled in his past few starts. Megill is scheduled to pitch tonight in Boston and if he can't right the ship, he does have a minor league option remaining.

While Blackburn lost a spot in the Opening Day rotation to Megill prior to getting hurt in spring training, Megill's recent performance has opened the door for him to be replaced by Blackburn. The Mets could consider making an even swap of Blackburn to the rotation and Megill to the bullpen as a long man, but sending Megill down to Syracuse would enable the team to keep him stretched out as a starter.

With the Mets opting for a six-man rotation when they have long stretches without an off day, keeping Megill stretched out makes sense since both Frankie Montas and Sean Manaea are still weeks away from a return. The Mets do have a stretch of 10 days in a row coming up at the end of May through a West Coast trip in June, so sending Megill down (assuming he doesn't demonstrate improvement tonight) now would allow them to bring him back up to use as a sixth starter during that stretch.

Either way, the Mets will be happy to add Blackburn to their roster next week. With the team's depth getting tested, having a proven big league veteran can only help ease the load on everyone else going forward.