Richard Bleier
Position:
LHP
Born:
4/16/1987
Height:
6'3
Weight:
215
B/T:
L/L
Acquired:
Signed as a minor league free agent on December 18, 2015 (NYY). Originally drafted in the sixth round of the 2008 MLB First-Year Player Draft (TEX).
Most Recent Stats at Time of Debut
CURRENT SEASON STATS: 1-1 with a 2.84 ERA in seven starts at Scranton/Wilkes-Barre (Triple-A), striking out nine while walking four and allowing 30 hits in 31.2 IP. |
Info & MLB Debut Date
Contract purchased from Scranton/Wilkes-Barre May 26 when LHP Chasen Shreve went on the 15-day DL. MLB Debut Date: 5/30/2016 |
Debut Details
May 30, in a 4-2 loss to the Blue Jays. The last of three pitchers, if you blinked you missed Bleier’s perfect two-thirds of an inning. Coming on with one out in the eighth inning in relief of Nick Goody, it took him a grand total of three pitches — all strikes — to complete the inning, as he retired both Michael Saunders and Justin Smoak on infield groundouts. |
Player Notes
Like Jacob Barnes (below), Bleier became one of two Florida Gulf Coast University products to make his big league debut within a four-day period. The veteran, who brought a 4.04 ERA in his first eight seasons into 2016, had gone a combined 14-5 with a 2.57 ERA in 28 games for the Nationals between Harrisburg (Double-A) and Syracuse (Triple-A) in 2015, striking out 65 and walking just 16 in 171.2 IP. Now with his fourth organization, he began his career in the Rangers system before the Blue Jays — the team he faced in his major league debut — plucked him out of the Texas chain in the 2013 Rule 5 Draft. One year later, he signed as a minor league free agent with the Nationals organization, before once again entering the free agent market and inking with the Yankees on December 18, 2015. |