Elephant Rumblings: Paul Blackburn return could be delayed

Happy Wednesday, Athletics Nation!

Paul Blackburn may not return to the rotation as soon as previously hoped. Matt Kawahara tweeted yesterday that the A’s 29-year-old starter developed another blister after his rehab start on Sunday, putting his next appearance in question and presumably potentially delaying Blackburn’s return to the A’s beleaguered rotation.

Blackburn hasn’t pitched in MLB since August 4 of last season. He was the A’s lone All-Star delegate in 2022, but struggled after the break before being shut down for the remainder of the season due to a torn tendon sheath.

Paul appeared to be ready to go for the 2023 season and may well have been the A’s Opening Day starter, but wound up on the injured list to start the season instead due to a fingernail avulsion on his right middle finger.

Hopefully, this latest setback will be minor and Blackburn will be back to shore up the rotation as soon as possible. Meanwhile, it seems fair to wonder if this development factored into the decision to hastily call Mason Miller up to the big leagues after just one start in Triple-A.

Miller is being brought up as a permanent member of the rotation and starting against the Cubs tomorrow, per David Forst:

Simultaneously, James Kaprielian was bumped from his scheduled start by Miller and pitched out of the bullpen last night:

Take care of that pitching hand, Paulie B! Even if Miller deals filth right out the gate as we are all hoping, there will be other holes in the rotation to plug.

A’s Coverage:

• Toster: Waldichuk shines, offense dives; A’s lose 6th straight
• Ashford: A’s to promote Jordan Diaz, per report
• Willis: A’s place Dany Jimenez on IL, recall Adam Oller
• Ashford: A’s to promote top prospect Mason Miller, per report
• Bengel: Oakland A’s fans planning ‘reverse boycott’ vs. Rays in June: ‘The fans are not the problem’
• Adams: Injury Notes: Burnes, Blackburn, Hendricks, Haniger

MLB News & Interest:

• Franco: Rob Manfred Expresses Support For Limit On Contract Length; Tony Clark Calls That Non-Starter For MLBPA
• McDonald: MLB To Experiment With Designated Pinch Runner In 2023 Atlantic League Season
• The Athletic: MLB All-30: One worrisome early-season trend for each team ($)
• Stark: Rays’ Erik Neander on their hot start, ‘superstar talent,’ and being a small-market juggernaut ($)
• Sarris and Ardaya: MLB’s trendiest pitch, the sweeper, has its problems — but with familiar fixes ($)
• Buchanan: Minor league notes: Scouts chime in on Astros’ Forrest Whitley, others ($)
• Today in Baseball History

Best of Twitter:

Mason on Mason.

Absolutely—otherwise, we’d have lost by 14 last night.

Yeah, but hitter’s park—right?

Now let’s catch up with Numero Uno.

Big fan of the pitch clock, but I don’t know if it needs to get any easier to steal bases.