Paul Blackburn making emotional Mets return after real chance he wouldnt pitch again

Join Post Sports+ for exciting subscriber-only features, including real-time texting with Mike Puma about the inside buzz on the Mets.Paul Blackburn hasn’t appeared in a regular-season major league game since he was knocked around by the Padres in an Aug.

23 start last season and left that game after being hit by a line drive in his right hand.He’s set to return to a major league mound Monday when the Mets open a series in Los Angeles against the Dodgers.Since that last start versus San Diego, the 31-year-old has dealt with back discomfort that landed him on the injured list following a rehab outing in September, which led to the unexpected discovery of a spinal fluid leak in his back.An array of tests and medical opinions followed, with Blackburn saying he saw specialists who told him in order to fix the situation, they would need to insert a pin or a hinge in his spine — which would also likely end his playing career.But he ended up having bone spurs shaved around a capsule in the spine in the area that was punctured.The October procedure made it possible for him to return.“People I went to said they’d never seen this in a baseball player and they didn’t know how I’d come back from it,” Blackburn said Saturday before the Mets defeated the Rockies, 8-2, at Citi Field.“I wasn’t sure if I’d be able to pitch again.

That [thought] was there.That was real.

So when I went through the rehab process, I tried to be as positive as I could and focus on the day.”The plan worked well enough that Blackburn was able to resume throwing in the offseason and arrived to spring training feeling good.He said he began to feel like himself while throwing “probably in mid-January.For a couple of months after the surgery, there were times I would ache and it would be uncomfortable.”Blackburn said he now has more movement in his back and “feels normal.”His return was delayed in the spring by right knee inflammation, but he’s since made seven minor l...