Richard Bleier
| Richard Bleier | |||
|---|---|---|---|
.jpg) Bleier with the Yankees in 2016 | |||
| New York Yankees – No. 54 | |||
| Pitcher | |||
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Born: April 16, 1987 Davie, Florida | |||
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| MLB debut | |||
| May 30, 2016, for the New York Yankees | |||
| MLB statistics (through 2016 season) | |||
| Win–loss record | 0–0 | ||
| Earned run average | 1.96 | ||
| Strikeouts | 13 | ||
| Teams | |||
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Richard Sidney Bleier (born April 16, 1987) is an American professional baseball pitcher for the New York Yankees of Major League Baseball (MLB).
Used as both a starting pitcher and a relief pitcher in his career, the left-hander throws a fastball that hits the low 90s, a changeup, a curveball, and a slider.[1] His approach is to "pitch to contact," and use excellent control.[2]
Early life
Bleier was born in Davie, Florida.[3] Bleier's father, Lawrence, is from the Bronx, in New York City, and grew up playing stickball in Brownsville, Brooklyn; his mother is Kathy Bleier.[4][5][6] Bleier has a brother and a sister, and is Jewish.[6][7] His wife is Brett Bleier.[8]
Bleier played baseball at South Plantation High School in Plantation, Florida, from which he graduated in 2005. As a freshman, he was 5-foot-6, and 117 pounds.[9] He was chosen for the county and state All Star games in 2005.[10]
He played college baseball at Florida Gulf Coast University for the Eagles in Fort Myers, Florida on a partial scholarship.[6][11] By 2008, Bleier had grown to 6-foot-4 and 210 pounds, and was throwing 90 mph.[9] In his junior year of college he was selected unanimously as the Atlantic Sun Conference Pitcher of the Year and First Team All Sun Conference after he had a 7–1 win-loss record and a 2.09 earned run average (ERA), leading the conference in wins, ERA, complete games, and innings pitched.[12][6][10][13][14] In his three years at the university, he had a 2.70 ERA (2nd-best all-time in school history), 17 wins (7th), and 181 strikeouts (7th).[15]
Minor league career
Bleier was drafted by the Texas Rangers in the sixth round of the 2008 Major League Baseball Draft, after his junior year in college.[12] His signing made him the highest draft pick in the history of Florida Gulf Coast University.[12]
He played in the Rangers, Toronto Blue Jays, and Washington Nationals organizations.[16] In 2009, he was 9-12 and his 125 strikeouts were the second-most in the Rangers' minor league system.[17][18] Bleier was voted Pitcher of the Week in the Class AA Texas League with the Rangers' Frisco RoughRiders on both May 10, 2010, and June 6, 2011.[12]
In 2012, Bleier, by virtue of his Jewish heritage, played for the Israel national baseball team in the qualifying rounds of the 2013 World Baseball Classic.[19][20] He pitched one scoreless inning, in two appearances.[21]
In the 2015 season, Bleier had the most wins (14) and the lowest ERA (2.57) of all minor league pitchers in the Washington Nationals minor league system.[12] He was a post-season Class AA Eastern League All Star with Harrisburg in 2015.[12] In 2015, he was also voted a Washington organization All Star by MILB.com.[12] He was voted Pitcher of the Week in the Eastern League with the Nationals' Harrisburg Senators on May 25, 2015.[12]
After he elected free agency, Bleier signed with the Yankees prior to the 2016 season.[12]
Major league career
Bleier was called up to the majors for the first time on May 26, 2016, by the New York Yankees.[5] He debuted in the majors on May 30, becoming the 27th Yankee to wear uniform number 50.[22][5] His debut followed nine minor league seasons in which he pitched 956 innings, and Bleier was one of 12 Yankees pitchers since 1919 to make his debut after turning 29 years old, and the first since Amauri Sanit in 2011.[23][6] He became the third former FGCU player to play in the majors, joining pitchers Chris Sale and Casey Coleman.[5]
Yankee manager Joe Girardi said: "I can use him either way – for distance or I could use him if I wanted (to pitch to) a couple lefties. He’s a ground ball guy. He gets a ton of ground balls.... He was a starter down there, so he’s built up."[5]
References
- ↑ "Newest New York Yankee, from FGCU, thrives on control". Retrieved July 2, 2016.
- ↑
- ↑ "Richard Bleier Baseball Stats by Baseball Almanac". Retrieved July 2, 2016.
- ↑ "Latest Hot Button Top 10 (updated); plus who's feeling most heat in South Florida sports? 12 choices, you pick 3. Poll. Vote!; also, Memorial Day, long climb of Richard Bleier, extraordinary life of Charley Winner, your verdict on SB turf wars & more – Greg Cote's Random Evidence Blog". Retrieved July 2, 2016.
- 1 2 3 4 5 "FGCU grad Richard Bleier to pitch for New York Yankees". Retrieved July 2, 2016.
- 1 2 3 4 5 "Bronx cheer: Nine-year baseball odyssey through minors leads to debut with Yankees". Retrieved July 2, 2016.
- ↑ "Shalom, Richard Bleier, our latest JML » Kaplan's Korner on Jews and Sports". Retrieved July 2, 2016.
- ↑ "Newest New York Yankee, from FGCU, thrives on control". May 28, 2016. Retrieved July 2, 2016.
- 1 2 "State University System of Florida – Board of Governors: Press Room". Retrieved July 2, 2016.
- 1 2 "The Official Site of The Florida Gulf Coast University Eagles Athletics". Retrieved July 2, 2016.
- ↑ "MLB: Former FGCU pitcher Richard Bleier called up by Yankees". Retrieved July 2, 2016.
- 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 "Richard Bleier Stats, Highlights, Bio – MiLB.com Stats – The Official Site of Minor League Baseball". Retrieved July 2, 2016.
- ↑
- ↑
- ↑
- ↑ "Harrisburg starter Richard Bleier, among Eastern League's best, is pitching for a job". Retrieved July 2, 2016.
- ↑
- ↑
- ↑ "MLB Locals: FGCU's Bleier happy to have been part of Team Israel in World Baseball Classic". Retrieved July 2, 2016.
- ↑ "Freiman's second two-HR day lifts Israel into finals". Retrieved July 2, 2016.
- ↑
- ↑ "Richard Bleier Stats, Fantasy & News". Retrieved July 2, 2016.
- ↑ "Yankees' Richard Bleier makes big league debut". Retrieved July 2, 2016.
External links
- Career statistics and player information from MLB, or ESPN, or Baseball-Reference, or Fangraphs, or The Baseball Cube, or Baseball-Reference (Minors)