HOUSTON — New York Mets right-hander Paul Blackburn will begin the season on the 15-day injured list with right knee inflammation, team president of baseball operations David Stearns announced Wednesday during the team’s workout at Daikin Park.

Stearns also said that right-handed relievers Max Kranick and Huascar Brazoban and catcher Hayden Senger have made Mets’ opening day roster.

After the workout, infielder Luisangel Acuna was informed that he had made the roster, a source confirmed to ESPN, rounding out the Mets’ projected 26-man roster. The club has until noon Thursday to finalize the group before opening the season against the Houston Astros.

Blackburn was slated to pitch out of the bullpen to begin the season. Stearns said Blackburn reported knee soreness in the days after his last spring outing. He received an injection for the discomfort and will be shut down for seven to 10 days. Stearns added that the injury isn’t believed to be serious, and Blackburn is expected to return before the end of April.

Acuña and outfielder Alexander Canario were the only two healthy position players who attended the Mets’ workout Wednesday and hadn’t been told whether they made the roster.

With Acuña on the roster, barring a last-second development, Canario won’t make the team. Canario, who is out of options, would be exposed to waivers if he isn’t put on the roster. The Mets already have six outfielders on their projected roster.

“It’s really just ensuring we stay open to what might be out there,” Stearns said during the team’s workout. “This is a highly active time of year as players are on waivers, players have assignment clauses, players have upward mobility clauses, players take their outs and become free agents, players become available at the last minute before rosters are submitted. And the last thing we want to do is tell a player that they are on the opening day roster and then have to walk that back before rosters are due.”

Acuña, the younger brother of former Braves MVP Ronald Acuna Jr., is a former top prospect who impressed during his first major-league stint at the end of last season. The 23-year-old Venezuelan batted .308 with a .966 OPS and three home runs in 14 regular season games as the Mets fought for a playoff spot down the stretch. He mostly played shortstop in place of the injured Francisco Lindor, and has played second base and center field as a pro. This spring, he spent time at third base for the first time.

Kranick, a 27-year-old lifelong Mets fan from Pennsylvania, hasn’t pitched in the majors since appearing in two games for the Pittsburgh Pirates in 2022. Brazoban, 35, was traded to the Mets last summer and posted a 5.14 ERA in 19 appearances with the team.

Senger, at 27 years old, has never been on a major-league roster, having spent the last seven seasons in the minors. The opportunity opened for him opened when starting catcher Francisco Alvarez fractured his left hand earlier this month. Senger was a 24th-round pick in 2018 who has spent the last two winters working at a Whole Foods in the Nashville area while his wife, Ryann, worked as a physician’s assistant to help keep his dream alive.

“I gotta give a shoutout to my wife,” Senger said. “She has worked for a lot of years to support me through this and it kind of made it all worth it now that I get to say I’m a Major League Baseball player.”

Designated hitter Giancarlo Stanton, who continues to deal with tendinitis in both elbows, was one of eight New York Yankees players to be placed on the injured list Wednesday.

There is no clear timetable for the 35-year-old Stanton to return. He was bothered by elbow pain last season when he batted .233 with 27 homers and 72 RBIs in 114 games.

Infielder DJ LeMahieu, who suffered a left calf strain during a spring training game on March 1, also was put on the 10-day IL. LeMahieu, 36, batted .204 with two homers and 26 RBIs in 67 games last season.

Also going on the injured list were right-handers Clarke Schmidt (rotator cuff tendinitis), Jonathan Loaisiga (right elbow), Ian Hamilton (viral illness), Scott Effross (left hamstring strain), JT Brubaker (left rib fractures) and Clayton Beeter (right shoulder impingement).

New York also optioned right-hander Yerry de los Santos to Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre.

Field Level Media contributed to this report.

The good news for Chicago White Sox fans is that the betting market believes there will be an improved baseball team on the South Side.

The bad news? Oddsmakers still have the 2025 White Sox pegged as one of the worst teams in over 35 seasons.

Chicago’s current over/under on victories during the regular season is 53.5 at ESPN BET and other sportsbooks. It’s the lowest season win total set by sportsbooks in over 35 seasons, according to ESPN Research.

At the same time, it’s 12.5 wins more than the White Sox won last year during their record-breaking 121-loss campaign.

“It’s really hard to have two historically bad seasons in a row,” said Randy Blum, baseball oddsmaker for the Westgate SuperBook in Las Vegas. “Don’t get me wrong, though, there’s nothing to love about the White Sox this year.”

Some sportsbooks opened the White Sox win total in the high 40s, but the market moved upward, despite a roster that, on paper, is arguably worse than last year’s. Chicago traded away ace starting pitcher Garrett Crochet and cut ties with several veterans in the offseason, leaving a team of mostly young and unproven players that will be facing a significant talent gap with the rest of baseball.

The White Sox are projected to win six fewer games than any other team. The Colorado Rockies, at 59.5, are next.

In contrast, the Los Angeles Dodgers entered the season with a win total of 103.5 , the highest since the 1999 New York Yankees (104.5), 10 wins more than any other team and 50 more than the White Sox.

The White Sox open July with a three-game series against the Dodgers in Los Angeles. Oddsmakers said the series has the potential to produce some rare individual game lines, with the Dodgers possibly being as big as “-600 or -700” favorites.

Still, the betting market believes in the White Sox. At BetMGM, 83% of the money that’s been bet on the White Sox’s win total was on the over as of Wednesday. And, yes, some bettors have even backed the White Sox to win the World Series at 400-1 odds.

“The White are currently our biggest liability in all of the futures, World Series (400-1), pennant (225-1) and division (250-1),” said Eric Biggio, lead baseball trader for Caesars Sportsbook. “Understandably at their prices, it doesn’t take much for the risk to add up.”