Paul Blackburn had already fallen asleep in his Syracuse, N.Y., hotel room late Tuesday when Mets pitching coach Jeremy Hefner tried to call him. With his phone on silent, Blackburn missed the call. About 15 minutes later,

Paul Blackburn’s “weird” season took another strange turn late Tuesday night when he was awoken by a messenger banging on his hotel room door after missing a phone call informing him the Mets were planning to activate him the next day from the injured list.

The Mets are going to designate right-hander Paul Blackburn for assignment, reports Anthony DiComo of MLB.com. That will be the corresponding move for the promotion of Nolan McLean, a move that was previously reported.

McLean, a 24-year-old prospect ranked third overall in the Mets’ system, is expected to take the place of Frankie Montas in the rotation.