Paul Blackburn’s transformational Yankees season is barreling toward its biggest test yet

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.”