Mets pitcher Paul Blackburn said an MRI revealed “no structural damage” to his right knee and that he will soon resume throwing after beginning the season on the 15-day injured list.

“I should be able to start throwing on my feet on Monday,” the pitcher said from the clubhouse in Houston ahead of Friday’s game.

Blackburn added that the news he’s received about his knee so far has been good and “everything has progressed really well.” Of course, the 31-year-old said it is “frustrating,” but he's glad the issue isn’t worse.

“It could have been structural damage, it could have been a lot of other stuff instead of, we just have to drain this and kind of wait a week and then we’re able to just kind of pick up where we left off,” he said.

Mets president of baseball operations David Stearns said Blackburn’s knee had already responded "really well" to the injection he received on Monday to deal with inflammation. Stearns announced that the veteran right-hander would start the season on the 15-day IL on Wednesday, and that he would be shut down from throwing for 7-10 days.

“Right now it’s just kind of waiting those seven days to just rotate on it again,” Blackburn said Friday.

Blackburn said the injury first presented itself after his final outing of the spring on March 22. He woke up the following morning and the knee was sore but “nothing crazy.” It wasn’t until the morning of Monday, March 24, when there was a “sack of fluid in there” that had to be drained. A gel was then injected.

The veteran wasn’t sure what caused the injury, but revealed an MRI showed “a little bit of cartilage that just seemed a bit pissed off.”

Stearns was upbeat about the situation, and expected Blackburn to return at some point in April. He'll presumably slide into the bullpen, after Griffin Canning and Tylor Megill beat him out for the final two spots in the starting rotation this spring.

It has been a rough start to Blackburn’s tenure with the Mets on the injury front since he arrived in Queens at last season's trade deadline. A line drive off his right arm sent him to the IL in August before a back injury led to a spinal procedure that ended his season.

“I feel for him,” manager Carlos Mendoza said on Friday. “He’s been through some freaky injuries, some scary ones. Especially the one that he was dealing with the back and the fluid and all that, pretty scary.

“And then he worked so hard in the offseason. He’s having a really good camp and feeling good and then for this to pop up his last start in spring training. He’ll get through it.”

When asked about his auspicious time with the Mets, Blackburn just shook his head and, with a wry smile, said, “I don’t know. I really don’t know. Just part of it, I guess.”

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