Blackburn (1-0) allowed one earned run on three hits and no walks while striking out three across six innings to earn the win Thursday against the Royals.
Blackburn turned in an impressive season debut, needing only 67 pitches to pitch six strong innings against the Royals. He limited the Royals to only three flyballs on 15 balls in play, though one did go for a home run off the bat of Alcides Escobar. His fantasy fantasy upside is held back by his lack of strikeouts -- he struck out just 22 batters in 58.2 innings of work last season -- but he has shown the ability to post solid ratios thanks to his penchant for inducing groundballs.