Nick Blackburn Stats & Scouting Report

IP	818
ERA	4.852
WHIP	1.473
BB/9	2.222
SO/9	4.269

Full name Robert Nicholas Blackburn
Born 02/24/1982 in Ada, OK
Profile Ht.: 6'4" / Wt.: 240 / Bats: R / Throws: R
School Seminole State College (OK)
Debut 09/03/2007
Drafted in the 29th round (857th overall) by the Minnesota Twins in 2001.

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Organization Prospect Rankings

The Devil Rays drafted Blackburn in the 34th round out of Del City (Okla.) High in 2000, but failed to land him as a draft-and-follow after he spent a year at Seminole State (Okla.) JC. The Twins made him a 29th-rounder in 2001 and signed him in May 2002. He's had two surgeries on his right knee as a pro to try to fix a cartilage problem along the way. Blackburn's knee problems limited his ability to do conditioning drills, and as he added weight, his fastball lost its zip. Blackburn started to get healthier toward the end of 2006, regaining some velocity, and came to camp in the best shape of his career last spring. Blackburn regained his velocity, his secondary stuff improved and his career took off. He had a streak of 411⁄3 innings without giving up an earned run and finished the season in the major leagues. Blackburn got better in every phase in 2007. With less weight to carry, he got stronger and was able to work with Twins coaches to lengthen his stride, get better extension out front and improve the qualify of his stuff. His two-seam fastball sits at 90-91 mph, and as he has regained velocity, he has run his four-seamer as high as 95. Blackburn's cutter, which sits in the upper 80s and has real depth at times, helped him limit lefthanders to a .226 average in 261 minor league at-bats. Sent to the Arizona Fall League specifically to improve his offspeed pitches, he showed a solid-average curve and improved his feel for a changeup that scouts now grade as a plus pitch. Blackburn repeats his low-maintenance delivery and has average big league command, if not a tick above. His mound demeanor always has endeared him to club officials, who said he never stopped competing even when his stuff was short. Blackburn has to learn to pitch with better stuff, when to pitch to contact and when to go for strikeouts. Scouts say his curveball could become a strikeout pitch if he threw it more and relied less on the cutter. He doesn't have a truly outstanding pitch, which probably limits his ceiling to that of No. 3 starter. The Twins laud his durability and believe he's over his past knee troubles. Minnesota stuck with Blackburn, and he rewarded them with a tremendous comeback season, finishing with a dominant turn in the AFL. The Twins will enter spring training with at least seven candidates for their rotation, and Blackburn's command and repertoire could give him a leg up for the No. 5 job.