Blackburn (finger) will be activated from the 15-day injured list to make his season debut in a start Monday against Atlanta, Alex Espinoza of MLB.com reports.
The right-hander will make his long-awaited first turn of 2023 after overcoming a cracked fingernail and subsequent blister as well as numerous rocky rehab outings. Blackburn finally appeared to find his footing in a five-inning start for Triple-A Las Vegas against Tacoma on Wednesday, allowing just an earned run over five innings while recording five strikeouts. Blackburn followed it up with a setback-free 25-pitch bullpen session Friday, teeing up Monday's debut. With the 2022 All-Star having worked up to 73 pitches in that most recent appearance for the Aviators, Blackburn shouldn't be on too restrictive a pitch count versus Atlanta.