What has the prospect the Mets traded for Paul Blackburn done for the Athletics?

Paul Blackburn had a night to forget on Friday in San Diego. Back on the West Coast where he has spent his entire MLB career until he was dealt to the New York Mets, it seemed like Blackburn was still in Eastern Standard Time. Beaten around by the San Diego Padres bats while his teammates put together only a pair of hits, Blackburn had a worst-case scenario type of evening that ended with a line drive back to the mound.

We have seen much better days from Blackburn in the near-month long stay with the orange and blue. Meant to be more of a back-of-the-rotation arm than a true stopper in the rotation, up until Friday he had been sailing smoothly.

We’ll have to see how this trade eventually works out for the Mets. But first, let’s see what has happened with the prospect they gave up for him, Kade Morris.

Former Mets prospect Kade Morris has been brutal since getting traded

Four starts into his tenure with the Lansing Lugnuts and the Athletics might have some questions if the Mets sent them a different guy. Morris had gone 4-3 with a 3.43 ERA in 57.2 innings at High-A Brooklyn. At the same level but a different league, Morris has been significantly worse.

After 4 starts, Morris is 0-4 with an 8.14 ERA. The 21 innings include 28 hits, 20 runs (19 earned), and a strikeout rate of just 5.6 per 9. He was at 8.9 per 9 with the Brooklyn Cyclones.

Things started well with a quality start to begin his tenure. The 7 innings and 3 earned runs was still not good enough to avoid a loss. He had a nearly identical outing his next time out with 4 earned runs in 7 innings of work.

It was his next start when things went downhill. Morris got knocked around for 10 runs (9 earned) in only 3 innings. He followed it up with another short appearance, 4 frames this time, and 3 runs across the board. He did manage to strike out 5 which is the most since the trade.

Morris had been making some good headway up the pipeline for the Mets prior to the deal. Drafted in the third round last year, he pitched his way onto the top 30 list of MLB.com. He currently ranks 19th for the Athletics.

The Athletics are no strangers to high Mets draft picks. J.T. Ginn made his MLB debut for them earlier this week with 2 scoreless innings. The 25-year-old was sent there in exchange for Chris Bassitt prior to the 2022 season. Mediocre minor league numbers himself, struggles from Morris shouldn’t stop the Athletics from promoting him. Ginn had minor league ERAs of 5.10, 7.42, and 5.26 in his seasons with the Athletics organization. It didn’t stop them from giving him the ball in the show.