Blackburn, who struck out six and allowed two hits and one walk over four scoreless innings in a 6-2 Cactus League loss to the Mariners on Thursday, is making an impression in his bid for a rotation spot, Jane Lee of MLB.com reports. "It's not easy to come in and pitch three or four innings like that in the middle of the game, and he's been able to do it a couple of times," manager Bob Melvin said. "Kept the ball down, keeps it on the ground, that's what he does."
Blackburn lowered his spring ERA to 3.86 with the impressive outing, which represented another positive step in his bid for a starting rotation spot. The 24-year-old right-hander has alternated a trio of scoreless efforts with a pair of appearances in which he's given up multiple earned runs this spring, but he's been able to miss plenty of bats on his way to 14 strikeouts over 14 innings. With Jharel Cotton (elbow) potentially facing a long-term absence, Blackburn's chances of securing a starting role appear especially strong at this point.