Richard Bleier

Richard Sidney Bleier

• Bats Left, Throws Left
• Height 6' 3", Weight 215 lb.
• School Florida Gulf Coast University
• High School South Plantation High School
• Debut May 30, 2016

• Born April 16, 1987 in Davie, FL USA

BR page

Biographical Information

Pitcher Richard Bleier made his major league debut in his ninth season as a pro.

Amateur Career

Bleier was 2-1 with a 2.10 ERA as a freshman at Florida Gulf Coast. As a sophomore, he had a 8-2, 3.60 record with an 18/84 BB/K ratio in 85 innings. He led the Alexandria Beetles with 5 wins in the Northwoods League that summer. He excelled as a junior at 7-1, 2.09, leading the ASUN in wins (tied) and ERA while placing 4th in strikeouts (76). He was the conference's unanimous selection as Pitcher of the Year. The Texas Rangers, and scout Juan Alvarez, took him in the 6th round of the 2008 amateur draft, the highest pick in school history (to that point).

Pro Career

Bleier began his professional career with the Spokane Indians, going 4-5 with a 4.02 ERA. He tied for 7th in the Northwest League in losses. In 2009, he was with the Hickory Crawdads (2-1, 1.14 in 5 games) and Bakersfield Blaze (7-11, 4.51). He walked only 24 in 167 1/3 innings and was second in the Rangers system in strikeouts with 125, one behind Kennil Gomez. He was also tied for second in hits allowed (184), first in innings (167 1/3), second in runs allowed (96), tied for third in earned runs allowed (75, even with Blake Beavan) and fourth in hit batsmen (15). He tied for 4th in the California League in losses, but was undefeated, and the best that there can be, by going 1-0 with a 2.51 ERA in the California League playoffs.

Richard was 7-11 with a 5.04 ERA for the 2010 Frisco RoughRiders, allowing a .291 average while walking just 28 in 164 1/3 innings. He led the Texas League with two shutouts, tied for fifth in losses, was second in innings (behind Jeremy Hefner), allowed the most hits (191), gave up the most runs (98) and surrendered the most earned runs (92). He led Rangers farmhands in hits allowed, runs allowed, earned runs allowed and shutouts while tying Robbie Ross for second in losses. The Floridian missed some of 2011 with an injury, going 7-8 with a 5.60 ERA for Frisco. He went 0-2 with a save and a 3.94 ERA in 2012, spending it entirely in the RoughRiders bullpen. He then was with Israel in the 2013 WBC Qualifiers and appeared in two games. He started their opener against South Africa and tossed three shutout innings, striking out three and allowing two hits before Brett Lorin relieved. Then, in the first of two games versus Spain, he entered with a 4-1 lead, two out and one on in the 8th, relieving David Kopp. He retired Rafael Alvarez then gave way in the 9th to Josh Zeid. He did not pitch in Israel's third game, their finale, a loss to Spain.

Major League Career

Bleier made his major league debut with the New York Yankees in 2016, pitching 23 times in relief with no decisions and a 1.96 ERA. Despite his good work, he was sent to the Baltimore Orioles in return for future considerations when spring training opened in 2017. He earned his first win on May 16th when he received credit for a wild, 13-11, extra innings win. He pitched 1 2/3 innings without giving up a run before benefiting from Chris Davis's second extra inning homer of the game. In total, he went 2-1, 1.99 in 57 games. In 2018, while the Orioles had one of the worst seasons in team history, he was one of the few pitchers who put up decent numbers - albeit in a limited role - finishing 3-0, 1.93 in 31 games and 32 2/3 innings.

Things went completely south the following season, 2019, under new manager Brandon Hyde. Even if the team was playing slightly better, the pitching staff was a disaster area, and this time he could not hold his head above water. He did record his first career save on April 1st, against the Toronto Blue Jays, but went on the injured list in mid-April with a bloated 14.54 ERA. When he returned a month later, he had all sorts of difficulty bringing it down to an acceptable level. He finally managed to bring it below 6.00 in late August, but another poor outing on August 28th sent him back north of the mark. After that outing, when he gave up 3 runs on 4 hits in just a third of an inning against the Washington Nationals, he lost his cool, exploding at third base coach Jose Flores in the dugout, complaining about the latter's decisions regarding defensive positioning. Overall, he finished with a 5.37 ERA, 1.32 WHIP and an 8/30 BB/K ratio in 53 appearances (55 1/3 innings).

In the pandemic-shortened 2020 season, he made two early appearances with the Orioles, giving up just 1 hit in 3 innings, then on August 1st he was traded to the Miami Marlins in return for a player to be named later (Isaac De Leon). The Marlins were in the middle of a COVID outbreak and scrambled to find enough players to field a team. It was the opportunity Richard needed, as he was solid over 19 outings for the Fish the rest of the way, putting up an ERA of 2.63 with a 1-1 record as a left-handed specialist. He got to pitch in the postseason, making 3 appearances in the Wild Card Series and the Division Series, allowing no runs in 2 innings and retiring all six batters he faced. In 2021, he had another good season, going 3-2, 2,95 in 68 outings, as the Marlins sank bank in the standings. He had an excellent K/W ratio of 44/6 in 58 innings.

On September 27, 2022, the usually low-profile Bleier made the news when he was called for three balks by first base umpire John Tumpane in the span of a single at-bat in the 8th inning of a game with the New York Mets. The Marlins were leading 6-3 when Jeff McNeil hit a two-out single. With Pete Alonso at the plate, Tumpane ruled that Bleier had not come to a full stop in his motion, then made the same call two pitches later, and after 1B Lewin Diaz and manager Don Mattingly stepped in to try to calm the situation, Tumpane called yet another balk, allowing McNeil to score. A furious Mattingly came out again at that point, and was ejected. It should be noted that Bleier had never been called for a balk in seven prior major league seasons, and was not doing anything differently in this game; he then got Alonso to ground out to end the inning, then was ejected in turn when he let Tumpane know that he wasn't impressed with his work. The incident tied the major league record for most balks in an inning, last set by Jim Gott in 1988 at a time when the umpires had been given specific and public orders to enforce the need for pitchers to come to a full stop. Don Heinkel had also been called for three balks in an inning earlier that same season, as well as two other pitchers during a similar crack-down in 1963 , and two others before that. Miami held on for a 6-4 win in what was a crucial game in the race for the NL East division title between the Mets and the Atlanta Braves. SABR researchers later point that Bleier's feat was not unprecedented, as in 1885, Charlie Sweeney of the St. Louis Maroons had been called for three balks with King Kelly at bat after walking George Gore, resulting in a run. The three balks made Bleier the major league leader for the season, as no other pitcher in either league had more than two. He finished the year at 2-2, 3.55 in 55 games with 1 save.

On January 30, 2023, he was traded to the Boston Red Sox in return for Matt Barnes, who was the longest-tenured player in Boston and third in team history in games pitched, but had been designated for assignment after a couple of sub-par seasons.

Sources

• 2012 Rangers Media Guide
• Florida Gulf Coast bio

Further Reading

• Jack Baer: "Ump show hits Marlins-Mets as pitcher called for 3 straight balks in 1 inning", Yahoo! Sports, September 27, 2022. [1]
• Bill Ladson: "Not 1, not 2 ... Marlins' Bleier called for 3 balks in same AB", mlb.com, September 28, 2022. [2]

Related Sites

• Richard Bleier on mlb.com
• BR Minors page