Paul Blackburn Replaces Ryan Weathers for Yankees on May 7
Paul Blackburn will start for the Yankees on May 7, 2026, after Ryan Weathers was scratched because of a nasty illness. The change hit a 12:35 pm getaway day game at the Stadium, with Blackburn stepping into a role he had not been stretched for this season.
Blackburn Takes the Ball
Blackburn had appeared in nine games in relief before getting the call, and he had gone more than two innings only once. That is the clearest sign of how quickly the Yankees had to adjust when Weathers could not take the mound.
Brendan Beck was also brought up from Triple-A for a potential debut, adding another arm to a pitching plan that shifted on the same day. Yerry De los Santos was sent down after his work on Wednesday, so the roster moved with the start itself rather than around it.
Rangers Bring Gore
MacKenzie Gore started for Texas with a 4.67 ERA through seven starts. He had not pitched into the sixth inning since his first two starts of the year, which put some of the pressure on the Yankees to keep their own staff from getting overextended early.
The pitching matchup also carried a workload edge for New York. Blackburn had been used in relief, not as a full starter, and the sudden switch meant the Yankees were handing the game to a pitcher whose recent usage had been shorter and more limited than a normal turn in the rotation.
That made the bullpen part of the story from the first pitch. If Blackburn could not work deep, the Yankees would have to bridge the gap with extra innings from a relief group that was already part of the day’s roster shuffle.
Yankee Stadium Adjustment
The Yankees had won the first game of the series before losing the next two, so this game arrived with a built-in need to stop the slide. A change at starter before a getaway-day first pitch is not just a name swap on the card; it changes how long the staff can stay on schedule and how aggressively the club can manage the middle innings.
For fans at Yankee Stadium, the immediate question was how Blackburn would handle a bigger workload than he had carried in relief. For the Yankees, the answer had to come quickly, because Weathers was out and the game was already underway on a modified plan.
