Blackburn\u2019s debut offers a spark against all odds<\/h2>\n
It all started Monday night in Los Angeles, of all places. Facing a Dodgers lineup that seems built in a lab, right-hander Paul Blackburn made his Mets debut after overcoming a knee issue. And he didn\u2019t just survive\u2014he thrived.<\/p>\n
Five scoreless innings later, Blackburn walked off the mound looking like someone who had just injected confidence into a club that desperately needed it.<\/p>\n
It was an outing that felt like a balm on a bruised team, showing that the organization\u2019s early-season depth might not be a myth after all.<\/p>\n A day later, on Tuesday, Frankie Montas took the mound in a rehab start. The results weren\u2019t sparkling\u2014he wasn\u2019t particularly sharp\u2014but that was never the point. For Montas, just toeing the rubber again was progress.<\/p>\n The Mets are playing the long game with him, understanding that after a lengthy absence, he\u2019ll need more than one start to shake off the rust.<\/p>\n What matters now is that he\u2019s trending in the right direction\u2014moving closer to helping a big-league team that can use every healthy arm it can get.<\/p>\n Now comes Manaea. On Friday, the lefty will take the mound for High-A Brooklyn, the first step in a rehab assignment that\u2019s been months in the making.<\/p>\n His spring was derailed in February by a right oblique strain\u2014one that turned out to be more significant than initially feared.<\/p>\n By April, just as he was turning a corner, a setback paused everything. The Mets didn\u2019t take any chances after that, choosing caution over speed.<\/p>\n They\u2019ve been deliberate. Patient. Methodical. And now, with Manaea set to throw two innings or 35 pitches, the reward for that patience is finally within sight.<\/p>\n It\u2019s easy to forget just how good Sean Manaea was last year. A 3.47 ERA. 184 strikeouts. A left-handed workhorse who could carve up a lineup and eat innings like few others.<\/p>\n The Mets signed him to be a stabilizing force. Instead, they\u2019ve had to soldier on without him. But the return of someone with Manaea\u2019s ceiling changes things.<\/p>\n He likely needs multiple rehab outings before he\u2019s game-ready, but just having him on the ladder is a win.<\/p>\n For a while, the Mets\u2019 pitching injuries felt like quicksand\u2014every step forward followed by a slide back. But this week brought something different.<\/p>\n Blackburn dealing in Los Angeles. Montas logging innings. And now Manaea finally beginning his comeback. There\u2019s a path forward.<\/p>\n Health is never guaranteed, especially for pitchers. But momentum matters. And for the first time in what feels like forever, the Mets have some.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" The New York Mets are finally getting good news on the injury front as Sean Manaea officially joins Frankie Montas on the comeback trail<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":6,"featured_media":67345,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-67344","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-mlb"],"yoast_head":"\n![\"Mets](\"https:\/\/empiresportsmedia.com\/cdn-cgi\/image\/width=1220,height=813,fit=crop,quality=80,format=auto,onerror=redirect,metadata=none\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/MLB-New-York-Mets-at-Colorado-Rockies-23941335.jpg\")
Montas still rusty, but trending toward return<\/h2>\n
Manaea\u2019s long road back begins in Brooklyn<\/h2>\n
![\"Mets](\"https:\/\/empiresportsmedia.com\/cdn-cgi\/image\/width=1220,height=813,fit=crop,quality=80,format=auto,onerror=redirect,metadata=none\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/12\/MLB-NLCS-New-York-Mets-at-Los-Angeles-Dodgers-sean-manaea-24545717.jpg\")
Looking back at what the Mets have missed<\/h2>\n
From despair to direction\u2014Mets see a path forward<\/h2>\n