
Mets’ gutsy Paul Blackburn decision is latest glimpse of David Stearns’ vision flourishing
NY Post
What stands out, Jeremy Hefner relates, is how natural the decision felt. The Mets needed an extra starter in the midst of playing 10 straight days to give all the mainstays an extra day’s rest, notably Kodai Senga. Paul Blackburn was ready.
So Blackburn was inserted to make his 2025 debut Monday night against the highest-scoring team in the majors at Dodger Stadium.
“[Facing the Dodgers] didn’t even come up in the conversation,” said Hefner, the Mets pitching coach.
There are many reasons that the Mets, with a 5-3 triumph Sunday over the Bad News Rockies, completed a 7-2 homestand and improved to an MLB-best 24-7 at home and at 37-22 were a season-high 15 games over .500 and were tied for the National League’s best record. But it begins at the start.

Suddenly, someone had hit a rewind button and everyone had been transported back seven months. It was early spring instead of late fall, it was broiling hot outside the arena walls and not freezing cold. Everyone was back at TD Garden. There were 19,156 frenzied fans on their feet begging for blood, poised for the kill.












