Yankees relievers Paul Blackburn, Brent Headrick have surprised even themselves
Brent Headrick doesn’t try to put expectations on himself, but he’s certainly exceeded the ones that others had for him.
And Paul Blackburn, in a brand-new role as a high-leverage reliever, acknowledged he’d be “crazy” to say he thought his season would play out like this.
Yankees fans would be crazy, too, if they said they had imagined the bullpen duo would play a significant role on a team with championship aspirations. But here they are, and they have been nothing short of revelations.
Blackburn, 32, a career starter who spent parts of the previous two seasons with the Mets, is excelling with a 1.73 ERA and 1.03 WHIP in 73 innings (50 games). The righthander has the third-best ERA in the majors among pitchers who have thrown at least 70 innings.
Headrick, 28, who had never thrown more than 25 2⁄3 innings in any of his previous three MLB seasons, owns a 1.49 ERA and 1.13 WHIP with 21 holds in 66 1⁄3 innings. The lefthander is second in MLB with 67 games pitched (behind only Toronto’s Mason Fluharty, who has been in 69 games). He has a knack for getting out of jams; he has inherited 40 runners and only four have scored.
“It’s been a lot of fun, really,” Blackburn told Newsday. “The roles, going from coming into camp, like hey, possibly [being a starter]. Obviously, we had some guys coming back, didn’t know how that was going to progress. Kind of build up to like that 60-pitch range. Then come in as a longer guy.
“Yeah, man, I don’t know. It’s been kind of crazy, really. I’d be crazy to say that this is what I thought was going to happen.”
Headrick told Newsday: “I’ve always been a starter when I was coming up, and then last year having a longer role in the bullpen. I think it’s nice to be able to affect a lot of baseball games and be a part of a lot of winning baseball games.
“I take pride in being able to go out there whenever my name’s called and help us win and do that on a nightly basis. It’s exciting.”
’You’re supposed to have fun’
Fans from the other side of town also are familiar with Blackburn, who struggled to stay on the field and produce for the Mets.
They traded for Blackburn ahead of the 2024 deadline, but his season was cut short by a right hand contusion and a spinal fluid leak. He re-signed with the Mets before last season, but right knee inflammation prevented him from making his 2025 debut until June 2.
He ultimately finished 1-5 with a 6.00 ERA in 12 games (nine starts) in two seasons with the Mets, who released him on Aug. 18, 2025. He landed with the Yankees three days later.
“I just wasn’t having fun, to be honest, to just be completely honest,” Blackburn said. “This place kind of brought that back last year when I came, just having fun out there again. It’s something I felt like I was missing and a big reason why I came back, honestly.
“You’re supposed to have fun out there. So that’s, I think, a big thing, when you come in every day and you have stuff to look forward to. I feel like it’s just easier to go about things.”
Blackburn didn’t find his footing with the Yankees right away — he had a 5.28 ERA in 15 1⁄3 innings with them last year — but in January, he signed a one-year, $2 million contract to return.
He said his biggest adjustments have come mentally. For example, when he was a starter, on days after starts, he often would be “cashed out” and focusing solely on recovery. Now he always has to be locked in and ready to pitch on back-to-back days.
“This guy’s been an All-Star as a starter [in 2022 with Oakland],” Aaron Boone told Newsday. “So sometimes when you lose a little [bit] as a starter, he’s got a lot of quality traits that made him an All-Star starting pitcher. We’ve seen his stuff kick up too now in the bullpen as he’s gotten adjusted to that role and used to that role. But I think he’s got a really good handle on it.
“I think he’s done that in concert with Matt [Blake, the pitching coach] and our pitching group of like, OK, these are the things you should be doing — when, why, how, all those things — and then he’s going out and executing.”
Headrick, who pitched in 17 games out of the bullpen for the Yankees last season, started 57 games in his first five minor-league seasons. He said last year’s experience helped him mentally going into this offseason because he knew exactly what he needed to do as a reliever. He has taken a lot of pride in being a workhorse and leaving inherited runners stranded.
“I just trust my work ethic and trust the process,” he said. “I think if I’m doing all the things I can do right every single day, the rest will take care of itself. The opportunities, the success, things like that. I think it’s a long season, so I really try to just take it day by day and crush each day. And by the end of the season, we’ll see where we’re at.”
’It’s not always like this’
Although the bullpen was targeted by outsiders as a needed area of improvement, the Yankees acquired no relievers at the trade deadline.
Boone noted that this year’s deadline was unique in that there weren’t “a ton of leveraged relievers” available. He reiterated that “we still think some of our starters might end up back there as important pieces.”
Yankees relievers entered Sunday with a 2.99 ERA, the second-best mark in MLB.
Blackburn and Headrick agreed that the Yankees’ decision not to acquire any bullpen arms could be perceived as a vote of confidence in the unit they already had, a unit that is especially close this season.
“It’s honestly awesome,” Blackburn said. “It’s funny. I made a comment to [David] Bednar early this year. This is the first time I’ve ever really been in a bullpen. I’m like, ‘Dude, bullpens are freaking awesome.’ And he’s like, ‘No, it’s not always like this.’
“Our bullpen’s unbelievable. The guys down there, and just how we rally around each other and help each other. Honestly, it’s top-notch down there.”
Said Headrick: “We pretty much hang out all the time. It’s a really tight-knit group, and we just love being around each other. We love going to work every day and just doing our job.”
A job that has been done exceptionally well, thanks in large part to Blackburn and Headrick.
Newsday’s Roger Rubin contributed to this story.