Paul Blackburn
P | Bats/Throws: R/R | 6' 1" 196LBS | Age: 30
Draft: 2012 | Rd: C-A, #56, Chicago Cubs | Heritage HS (CA)
W L ERA G GS SV IP SO WHIP
2022 7 6 4.28 21 21 0 111.1 89 1.26
2023 4 7 4.43 21 20 0 103.2 104 1.54
2024 5 4 4.66 14 14 0 75.1 59 1.29
8 Seasons 22 28 4.85 86 82 0 428.1 329 1.41
G W-L ERA IP SO WHIP
2022 21 7-6 4.28 111.1 89 1.26
2023 21 4-7 4.43 103.2 104 1.54
2024 14 5-4 4.66 75.1 59 1.29
8 Seasons 86 22-28 4.85 428.1 329 1.41
MLB Percentile Rankings
Movement Profile (Induced Break)
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Statcast Statistics

Season Age Pitches Batted
Balls
Barrels Barrel % Barrel/PA Exit
Velocity
Max EV Launch
Angle
LA Sweet-
Spot %
XBA XSLG WOBA XWOBA XWOBACON HardHit% K% BB% ERA xERA
2017 23 937 199 5 2.5 2.1 87.1 112.1 4.5 26.6 .284 .399 .300 .321 .325 35.9 9.2 6.7 3.22 4.45
2018 24 442 92 4 4.3 3.4 85.9 115.2 12.7 31.5 .272 .379 .341 .307 .337 31.5 16.0 5.0 7.16 3.98
2019 25 224 44 3 6.8 5.3 86.4 113.5 1.3 40.9 .361 .593 .445 .429 .478 31.8 14.0 7.0 10.64 9.15
2020 26 48 10 0 0.0 0.0 85.9 102.9 17.8 20.0 .204 .257 .466 .274 .244 30.0 14.3 14.3 27.00 3.13
2021 27 681 137 12 8.8 6.9 90.5 115.9 9.7 32.8 .300 .468 .383 .353 .390 51.1 14.9 5.7 5.87 5.44
2022 28 1762 343 24 7.0 5.1 88.2 113.9 9.0 30.0 .259 .401 .326 .314 .360 40.5 19.1 6.4 4.28 4.11
2023 29 1875 313 18 5.8 3.9 87.2 117.7 12.2 38.0 .261 .406 .340 .323 .376 33.2 22.4 9.3 4.43 4.42
2024 30 1212 233 19 8.2 6.0 87.6 111.0 11.0 38.2 .266 .431 .329 .329 .375 35.6 18.7 6.6 4.66 4.59
Player 7181 1371 85 6.2 4.6 87.7 117.7 9.6 33.4 .272 .417 .338 .326 .365 37.4 17.8 7.1
MLB 7.0 4.8 88.5 122.4 12.3 33.2 .245 .405 .316 .315 .368 36.5 22.2 8.4
! Note: All figures in this table cover the period 2015-present.

Statcast Pitch Arsenal

Blackburn relies on 6 pitches.
Cutter
(22.0%) ,
Four Seamer
(19.5%) ,
Changeup
(18.1%) ,
Slider
(16.7%) ,
Sinker
(13.6%) ,
Curveball
(10.1%) ,


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Pitch Tracking



Batted Ball Profile

Season GB % FB % LD % PU % Pull % Straight % Oppo % Weak % Topped % Under % Flare/Burner % Solid % Barrel % Barrel/PA
2017 56.3 13.6 26.1 4.0 26.1 48.7 25.1 7.5 38.2 18.1 27.6 5.0 2.5 2.1
2018 47.8 16.3 26.1 9.8 52.2 33.7 14.1 2.2 33.7 23.9 30.4 4.3 4.3 3.4
2019 54.5 15.9 29.5 0.0 40.9 31.8 27.3 4.5 38.6 9.1 31.8 4.5 6.8 5.3
2020 50.0 10.0 20.0 20.0 50.0 20.0 30.0 0.0 30.0 30.0 30.0 10.0 0.0 0.0
2021 51.8 19.7 24.1 4.4 40.9 40.1 19.0 4.4 34.3 19.7 24.8 8.0 8.8 6.9
2022 47.5 23.6 23.0 5.8 39.9 38.5 21.6 4.1 34.7 21.3 28.6 3.8 7.0 5.1
2023 41.5 23.6 29.4 5.4 37.7 35.5 26.8 5.4 31.6 23.3 27.8 6.1 5.8 3.9
2024 45.9 20.6 27.0 6.4 42.9 38.2 18.9 3.9 35.2 22.7 23.6 6.4 8.2 6.0
Player 47.8 20.4 26.1 5.6 38.9 38.7 22.3 4.7 34.6 21.2 27.3 5.5 6.2 4.6
MLB 44.4 23.8 24.7 7.1 37.2 37.5 25.2 3.9 32.6 24.8 24.4 5.9 7.0 4.8
! Note: All figures in this table cover the period 2015-present.

Pitch Movement


How this works: This section shows two different ways to evaluate pitch movement. On the left, “Total Movement” shows the real-world movement of a pitch, including the forces of gravity, which affects every pitch thrown. Since gravity requires time, and slower pitches aren't 'better' just because they have more time to move, a pitch's movement is compared to other pitches of the same pitch type, within +/- 2 MPH and +/- 0.5 feet of extension/release. On the right, Induced Movement (or IVB) is reported without gravity, and attempts to isolate movement created by the pitcher's ability to spin and manipulate the ball.
Total Movement (in inches, w/ gravity)Induced Movement (in inches, w/o gravity)
YearPitchTeamHand#MPHVertical
Drop
vs.
Comparable
Horizontal
Break
vs.
Comparable
Vertical
Break
vs. AvgHorizontal
Break
vs. Avg
2024 Sinker NYM R 165 91.2 22.8 -1.0 12.4ARM -2.2 9.9 -2.6 12.4ARM -2.4
2024 Slider NYM R 202 81.3 46.0 5.2 14.8GLV 7.3 -4.3 5.9 14.8GLV 9.7
2024 Curveball NYM R 123 79.4 60.1 6.7 7.2GLV -1.4 -16.3 6.4 7.2GLV -2.2
2024 Changeup NYM R 219 85.7 30.7 -0.4 11.3ARM -2.5 6.3 -1.4 11.3ARM -2.9
2024 4-Seam Fastball NYM R 236 91.9 15.7 0.2 5.2ARM -1.6 16.7 0.9 5.2ARM -2.3
2024 Cutter NYM R 267 89.1 27.2 -0.5 4.9GLV 2.1 7.1 -1.2 4.9GLV 2.2
2023 4-Seam Fastball OAK R 273 91.9 16.2 0.0 5.9ARM -0.5 16.1 0.3 5.9ARM -1.5
2023 Curveball OAK R 219 79.1 60.3 6.2 6.7GLV -2.0 -16.1 6.2 6.7GLV -2.2
2023 Sinker OAK R 450 91.8 22.4 -0.8 12.8ARM -1.9 10.0 -2.4 12.8ARM -2.2
2023 Cutter OAK R 383 88.9 27.5 -0.4 4.5GLV 1.7 7.0 -0.9 4.5GLV 1.9
2023 Changeup OAK R 209 86.0 30.1 -0.4 12.3ARM -1.8 6.6 -1.3 12.3ARM -2.1
2023 Slider OAK R 340 80.8 48.9 7.5 14.9GLV 6.1 -6.7 8.2 14.9GLV 9.6
! Note: Years are in reverse order.

Run Values by Pitch Type

Year Pitch Type Team RV/100 Run Value Pitches % PA BA SLG wOBA Whiff% K% PutAway % xBA xSLG xwOBA Hard Hit %
2024 Cutter -1.6 -4 267 22.0 70 .299 .493 .393 24.4 17.1 30.8 .301 .459 .343 27.3
2024 4-Seam Fastball -1.7 -4 236 19.5 60 .286 .694 .448 12.5 15.0 13.0 .267 .628 .428 65.9
2024 Changeup 1.5 3 219 18.1 59 .164 .236 .209 34.7 18.6 17.5 .239 .353 .288 31.8
2024 Slider 0.7 1 202 16.7 53 .163 .245 .224 28.4 20.8 15.3 .212 .340 .262 17.9
2024 Sinker -4.3 -7 165 13.6 49 .478 .674 .512 9.5 14.3 16.7 .344 .475 .376 30.8
2024 Curveball 1.5 2 123 10.1 25 .125 .208 .164 25.0 36.0 18.8 .190 .237 .204 53.3
2023 Sinker -0.2 -1 450 24.0 128 .306 .435 .382 15.0 28.9 25.7 .224 .332 .304 47.2
2023 Cutter -2.1 -8 383 20.4 92 .435 .624 .480 15.9 4.3 7.0 .387 .541 .416 20.7
2023 Slider 0.6 2 340 18.1 102 .198 .308 .258 34.4 30.4 21.1 .218 .345 .270 22.2
2023 4-Seam Fastball -1.0 -3 273 14.6 58 .383 .553 .437 17.0 17.2 11.0 .299 .484 .387 46.2
2023 Curveball 2.4 5 219 11.7 43 .140 .326 .193 24.5 27.9 17.1 .188 .365 .230 32.3
2023 Changeup 1.9 4 210 11.2 40 .143 .286 .228 38.9 25.0 19.2 .224 .412 .323 42.3
! Note: Years are in reverse order.
! Note: To better align with other values, positive numbers (red) are good, and negative numbers (blue) are poor.

Spin Direction

Year Pitch Type Pitches MPH Active Spin % Total Movement (In.) Spin-Based Observed Deviation
2024 Changeup 207 85.7 75 13.2 1:00 2:15 -75
2024 Curveball 120 79.4 87 20.9 6:45 6:45 0
2024 Cutter 264 89.1 51 8.3 11:45 10:30 75
2024 4-Seam Fastball 231 91.9 89 17.0 12:45 12:30 15
2024 Sinker 162 91.2 85 15.7 12:45 1:45 -60
2024 Slider 198 81.2 60 17.0 7:30 8:15 -45
2023 Changeup 208 86.0 78 14.2 1:00 2:15 -75
2023 Curveball 218 79.1 88 20.4 6:45 6:45 0
2023 Cutter 383 88.9 51 7.8 11:45 10:45 60
2023 4-Seam Fastball 273 91.9 90 16.7 12:45 12:45 0
2023 Sinker 450 91.8 87 16.2 12:45 1:45 -60
2023 Slider 340 80.8 67 18.2 7:15 8:00 -45
! Note: Years are in reverse order.
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! Note: This table is showing data from the PITCHER perspective.
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Pitcher Arm Angle

! Note: Data is available from 2020 through the present.
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Swing/Take

Runs
Year Team PA Pitches Heart Shadow Chase Waste All
2017 236 935 5 13 -7 -5 7
2018 119 441 -1 3 -6 -2 -6
2019 57 224 -2 0 -3 0 -5
2021 175 681 1 -1 -3 -4 -7
2022 465 1,762 -1 10 -8 -7 -6
2023 463 1,875 8 13 -16 -5 -1
2024 316 1,212 -11 12 -7 -3 -9
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Plate Discipline

Season Pitches Zone % Zone Swing % Zone Contact % Chase % Chase Contact % Edge % 1st Pitch Strike % Swing % Whiff % Meatball % Meatball Swing %
2017 937 42.5 69.5 88.0 23.0 79.8 40.1 47.9 42.9 13.9 6.3 72.9
2018 442 45.9 72.9 89.2 27.2 63.1 45.5 56.3 48.2 18.8 5.4 79.2
2019 224 42.4 69.5 78.8 26.4 64.7 48.7 49.1 44.6 24.0 5.4 75.0
2020 48 41.7 65.0 100.0 21.4 66.7 43.8 57.1 39.6 10.5 6.3 66.7
2021 681 43.2 65.0 91.6 25.3 67.3 43.5 55.4 42.4 15.9 5.6 73.7
2022 1,762 46.7 65.0 84.5 26.5 57.8 44.9 63.6 44.5 23.6 6.3 67.6
2023 1,875 43.6 66.3 86.5 29.8 57.8 43.6 58.6 45.7 23.8 6.0 74.3
2024 1,212 46.6 70.8 84.0 27.7 59.2 44.1 58.9 47.8 23.5 6.2 77.3
Player 7,181 44.8 67.5 86.2 27.0 62.1 43.8 57.8 45.2 21.4 6.1 73.1
MLB 48.7 67.0 82.0 28.5 57.8 42.6 61.0 47.2 25.0 7.3 76.3
! Note: All figures in this table cover the period 2015-present.

Percentile Rankings

Year xwOBA /
xERA
xBA xSLG xISO xOBP Brl Brl% EV Hard
Hit%
K% BB% Whiff% Chase
Rate
FB
Velo
FB
Spin
CB
Spin
Extension
2017 39 9 52 85 27 93 98 52 25 1 77 1 6 15 28 93 49
2018 10 35 51
2019 16 13 41
2021 16 9 66 44
2022 37 20 34 50 40 34 56 56 27 25 72 29 18 18 11 67 47
2023 39 26 47 67 29 49 82 84 86 41 35 33 63 18 13 61 43
2024 22 14 19 28 34 42 39 79 75 17 70 34 38 16 20 54 31
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Expected Home Runs

Adjusted

Year Team Avg HR Trot Actual HR xHR HR-xHR Doubters Mostly Gone No Doubters No Doubter %
2017 23.1 5 4.7 0 3 2 3 60.0
2018 20.1 2 1.4 1 0 3 0 0.0
2019 24.8 3 2.4 1 1 1 2 66.7
2021 23.5 8 7.2 1 4 3 5 62.5
2022 23.9 15 12.8 2 5 12 4 26.7
2023 23.5 11 9.5 2 3 7 5 45.5
2024 23.1 12 11.3 1 4 13 1 8.3
Player 23.4 56 49.3 7 20 41 20 35.7
Note: xHR tells how many of this pitcher's home runs allowed would have been out of other stadiums. The "Adjusted" view here accounts for different wall heights, distances and environmental effects using Statcast Park Factor data.
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Expected Home Runs by Park

Adjusted

Year HR
2017 5 5 4 5 5 5 5 5 4 4 5 7 4 4 5 5 4 4 5 5 5 5 5 6 5 4 4 5 5 4 4
2018 2 2 3 2 2 1 1 1 1 1 1 2 2 1 1 2 1 1 2 2 0 2 3 2 0 1 1 1 2 2 0
2019 3 3 2 2 2 2 2 3 2 2 2 3 3 3 3 3 2 2 2 2 3 2 3 2 3 2 2 3 3 2 2
2021 8 8 6 9 7 7 8 8 7 5 7 10 5 6 8 9 7 7 7 7 6 8 9 8 7 6 9 7 6 6 7
2022 15 13 10 14 12 12 15 10 6 8 10 11 14 13 13 17 15 14 12 11 14 11 19 15 11 11 16 17 15 12 12
2023 11 8 9 9 12 9 11 9 10 8 9 13 8 9 10 9 9 8 9 12 9 9 12 9 7 7 12 11 9 11 8
2024 12 13 8 10 10 11 14 13 4 9 11 8 16 11 9 11 10 9 12 14 15 10 16 15 12 9 9 12 17 11 9
Player 56 52 42 51 50 47 56 49 34 37 45 54 52 47 49 56 48 45 49 53 52 47 67 57 45 40 53 56 57 48 42
Note: xHR tells how many of this pitcher's home runs allowed would have been out of other stadiums. The "Adjusted" view here accounts for different wall heights, distances and environmental effects using Statcast Park Factor data.
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Year to Year Changes

Metric 2017 2018 +/-   2019 +/-   2020 +/-   2021 +/-   2022 +/-   2023 +/-   2024 +/-  
Fastball Velocity 90.2 89.6 -0.6 90.2 0.6 89.8 -0.4 89.6 -0.2 90.3 0.7 90.8 0.5 90.6 -0.2
Offspeed Velocity 83.4 84.4 1.0 85.0 0.6 82.8 -2.2 85.8 3.0 86.0 0.2 86.0 0.0 85.7 -0.3
Breaking Velocity 82.3 84.4 2.1 81.0 -3.4 81.4 0.4 79.0 -2.4 78.9 -0.1 80.1 1.2 80.6 0.5
Exit Velocity 87.1 85.9 -1.2 86.4 0.5 85.9 -0.5 90.5 4.6 88.2 -2.3 87.2 -1.0 87.6 0.4
Launch Angle 4.5 12.7 8.2 1.3 -11.4 17.8 16.5 9.7 -8.1 9.0 -0.7 12.2 3.2 11.0 -1.2
Barrel % 2.5 4.3 1.8 6.8 2.5 0.0 -6.8 8.8 8.8 7.0 -1.8 5.8 -1.2 8.2 2.4
Hard Hit % 35.9 31.5 -4.4 31.8 0.3 30.0 -1.8 51.1 21.1 40.5 -10.6 33.2 -7.3 35.6 2.4
LA Sweet-Spot % 26.6 31.5 4.9 40.9 9.4 20.0 -20.9 32.8 12.8 30.0 -2.8 38.0 8.0 38.2 0.2
xBA .284 .272 -0.012 .361 0.089 .204 -0.157 .300 0.096 .259 -0.041 .261 0.002 .266 0.005
BA .262 .303 0.041 .380 0.077 .417 0.037 .319 -0.098 .255 -0.064 .286 0.031 .262 -0.024
xwOBA .321 .307 -0.014 .429 0.122 .274 -0.155 .353 0.079 .314 -0.039 .323 0.009 .329 0.006
wOBA .300 .341 0.041 .445 0.104 .466 0.021 .383 -0.083 .326 -0.057 .340 0.014 .329 -0.011
xSLG .399 .379 -0.020 .593 0.214 .257 -0.336 .468 0.211 .401 -0.067 .406 0.005 .431 0.025
SLG .371 .450 0.079 .660 0.210 .583 -0.077 .534 -0.049 .441 -0.093 .435 -0.006 .441 0.006
K% 9.2 16.0 6.8 14.0 -2.0 14.3 0.3 14.9 0.6 19.1 4.2 22.4 3.3 18.7 -3.7
BB% 6.7 5.0 -1.7 7.0 2.0 14.3 7.3 5.7 -8.6 6.4 0.7 9.3 2.9 6.6 -2.7
Swing % 42.9 48.2 5.3 44.6 -3.6 39.6 -5.0 42.4 2.8 44.5 2.1 45.7 1.2 47.8 2.1
Whiff% 13.9 18.8 4.9 24.0 5.2 10.5 -13.5 15.9 5.4 23.6 7.7 23.8 0.2 23.5 -0.3
In Zone % 42.5 45.9 3.4 42.4 -3.5 41.7 -0.7 43.2 1.5 46.7 3.5 43.6 -3.1 46.6 3.0
Out of Zone % 57.5 54.1 -3.4 57.6 3.5 58.3 0.7 56.8 -1.5 53.3 -3.5 56.4 3.1 53.4 -3.0
Out of Zone Swing % 23.0 27.2 4.2 26.4 -0.8 21.4 -5.0 25.3 3.9 26.5 1.2 29.8 3.3 27.7 -2.1
First Pitch Swing % 21.0 26.1 5.1 22.8 -3.3 14.3 -8.5 25.7 11.4 31.5 5.8 31.0 -0.5 31.0 0.0
First Pitch Strike % 47.9 56.3 8.4 49.1 -7.2 57.1 8.0 55.4 -1.7 63.6 8.2 58.6 -5.0 58.9 0.3
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Statcast Fielder Positioning

vs RHHvs LHH
YearAlignment TypePAwOBAPATotal%PATotal%
2017 Shifts 237 .301 124 0 0.0 113 32 28.3
2018 Shifts 119 .341 52 5 9.6 67 12 17.9
2019 Shifts 57 .445 28 0 0.0 29 13 44.8
2020 Shifts 14 .466 7 2 28.6 7 4 57.1
2021 Shifts 175 .383 98 30 30.6 77 58 75.3
2022 Shifts 465 .326 226 49 21.7 239 144 60.3
2023 Shades 463 .340 247 0 0.0 216 90 41.7
2024 Shades 315 .330 157 0 0.0 158 92 58.2
! Note: Shifts are through the 2022 season, Shaded starting from the 2023 season, Shift: three or more infielders are on the same side of second base, Shade: positioned outside of their typical responsible slices of the field.
Learn more about how positioning is defined here

Pitch Tempo

Bases EmptyRunners On Base
SeasonTeamPitchesTempoFast %Slow %PitchesTempoFast %Slow %
2017 335 15.6 41.2% 0.6% 133 22.2 0.0% 6.8%
2018 138 13.6 65.2% 0.7% 60 24.5 0.0% 10.0%
2019 53 18.5 3.8% 1.9% 51 25.3 0.0% 15.7%
2020 14 13.1 64.3% 0.0% 9 21.4 0.0% 0.0%
2021 211 18.1 10.4% 0.5% 136 23.0 0.0% 5.9%
2022 597 20.9 1.2% 3.9% 265 25.9 0.0% 18.9%
2023 477 17.3 7.3% 1.0% 355 21.1 0.0% 2.3%
2024 347 16.7 13.5% 0.3% 187 19.5 0.0% 0.5%

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Pitch Distribution