New York Yankees Paul Blackburn’s transformational Yankees season is barreling toward its biggest test yet By Greg Joyce Published Sep. 4, 2026, 8:08 p.m. ET New York Yankees pitcher Paul Blackburn (58) throws a pitch in the 8th inning when the New York Yankees defeated the Boston Red Sox 1-0 Friday, August 28, 2026 at Yankee Stadium. Robert Sabo for NY Post SAN DIEGO — He has pitched in just one career playoff game, and it came at the end of a blowout last October in the ALDS.
But as Paul Blackburn heads down the stretch about to pitch in the most pressure-packed games of his life — and in an even more important role than most could have predicted entering the season — the thing that his teammates give him the most grief for should serve the Yankees veteran well.
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“A lot of guys give me crap because they say I’m out there looking like I’m sleeping,” Blackburn said with a chuckle this week. “I feel like I’ve gotten to the point now in my career where I feel like I can control the adrenaline out there. Every day is different, obviously. There’s some days you’re out there [with] a lot more adrenaline than you have the next day. It’s just part of it, part of being a reliever.
“Once you start feeling like you’ve faced every situation that you could possibly face, just being out there more, you get used to it.”
