Richard Bleier

Richard Bleier | Childhood and Education

Richard Bleier was born in Brooklyn, New York on April 16, 1987. His father, Lawrence Bleier, and mother, Kathleen Bleier, gave birth to him.

He also grew up in Plantation, Florida, with his brother and sister. Richard spent most of his adolescence in Brownsville, Brooklyn, playing stickball.

He also went to South Plantation High School, where he graduated in 2005. Richard also played baseball for the South Plantation High School team in high school. He attended Florida Gulf Coast University after graduation. Richard studied criminal justice.

He also played baseball for the Florida Gulf Coast Eagles, his university’s club.

In addition, during his high school years, Richard was named a State of Florida All-Star in 2005. In contrast, he was named Atlantic Sun Conference Pitcher of the Year at Florida Gulf Coast University.

College Statistics

Richard was a college baseball player for Florida Gulf Coast University. He was a member of the Florida Gulf Coast Eagles, who provided him with a partial scholarship.

Richard had a 7-1 win-loss record and a 2.09 earned run average as a junior in college (ERA). Furthermore, he had 181 strikeouts, 17 wins, and a 2.70 ERA in three years at the University.

Career in the Minor Leagues

Richard was taken by the Texas Rangers in the sixth round of the 2008 Major League Baseball draft in early 2008. His signing with the Texas Rangers earned him the university’s highest draft pick in history.

In the 2009 season, Richard Bleier played with the Bakersfield Blaze. In addition, he has the greatest strikeout-to-walk ratio in the league, 5.40. Richard went 9-12 with 125 strikeouts in 2009, ranking second in the minor league system.

Weekly Pitcher of the Week

Richard Bleier had a 7-11 record for Frisco in 2010. Furthermore, he allowed 1.54 walks per inning, which was the third-lowest in the Texas League.

He was also named Pitcher of the Week in the Class AA Texas League. Richard was picked by the Toronto Blue Jays from the Rangers at the end of the 2013 season.

In addition, before 2015, he was signed by the Washington National organizations and pitched for the Harrisburg Senators.

During the 2015 season, Richard has 14 victories and the lowest ERA in the minor leagues (2.57). The next year, he was a Class AA Eastern League All-Star in Harrisburg.

Bleier was also named a Washington organization All-Star by MiLB.com in 2015. Not to note, Bleier was named Eastern League Pitcher of the Week on May 25, 2016.

He was also promoted to the Syracuse Chiefs of the Class AAA International League.

New York Yankees Major League Baseball (MLB) Career

Richard Bleier made his major league debut in 2016 with the New York Yankees. He joined the Yankees after pitching 956 innings in nine minor league seasons.

Furthermore, Richard is one of 12 Yankee pitchers who made their debut after the age of 29 in 1919. In 2016, he also made 23 relief appearances with a 1.96 ERA.

Furthermore, Richard was dealt by the Yankees to the Baltimore Orioles in 2017. He also went on to make 57 relief appearances with a 1.99 ERA in 2017.

Furthermore, Richard posted a 1.93 ERA in 31 bullpen appearances in 2018. During the 2016-18 season, his 1.97 ERA was the second-lowest among all big league pitchers.

In addition, Richard made his major league debut with the Yankees on May 26, 2016.

He was also the 27th Yankee to wear the number 50 jersey. In addition, Richard was the third former FGCU player to make the major league, following Casey Coleman and Chris Sale.

Yankee manager Joe Girardi also praised his presence on the squad.

Orioles of Baltimore

The Yankees traded Richard to the Baltimore Orioles on February 21, 2017. Following his first loss with the Orioles, he pitched 13 scoreless innings in a win over the Detroit Tigers.

Furthermore, he had a strong first half of the season with the Orioles. In 25 relief appearances, he had a 1.45 ERA in 30 3 innings pitched.

Furthermore, he had the lowest ERA of any pitcher with 40 innings pitched, at 1.56. Richard, on the other side, had a 1.45 ERA in 30 3 innings.

His best performance to date

In April of 2018, ESPN’s Sam Miller reported that Richard had the finest performance of his career with a minimum of 95 innings pitched.

He claims that his 242 ERA+ was the greatest among pitchers with 101 or more major league innings pitched.

Richard made 31 appearances with a 3-0 record and a 1.93 ERA in 2018. Furthermore, he had the fourth-lowest strikeout rate of any AL pitcher, at 4.13 per inning.

He averaged 3.40 pitches per appearance and 21.2 percent hard-hit balls, ranking third among all AL pitchers.

Furthermore, he was 5-1 with a 1.97 ERA during the 2018 season. In addition, Richard has been declared eligible for arbitration in 2020.

Furthermore, he will be a free agent at the start of the 2023 season.

The ailment that caused him to lose form

Bleier was injured and was forced to leave the game on June 13. It was ultimately determined to be a third-grade tear that required surgical correction.

It caused him to miss the rest of the season, although Bleier was anticipated to return during spring training in 2019.

However, Richard had to deal with the issues, but he gradually improved throughout the season. Furthermore, in 53 appearances, he went 3-0 with a 5.37 ERA and four saves. In the American League, Richard had the lowest batted-ball luck on ground balls.

Furthermore, Richard played in front of an infield following a dugout brawl with coach José Flores. His progress would eventually improve as a result of the change in position.

The Miami Marlins

Richard was traded from Baltimore to the Miami Marlins on July 31, 2020, before he could become a free agency. After the Orioles obtained Isaac De León, the transaction was consummated.

Richard was 1-1 with a 2.63 ERA during his stint with the Marlins. In addition, he went 1-1 in 2020, with a 1.08 WHIP and a 2.16 ERA in 16.2 innings pitched across 21 games.