Richard Bleier

Richard Bleier

37-Year-Old PitcherRP
Washington Nationals AAA
2024 Fantasy Outlook
There was no outlook written for Richard Bleier in 2024. Check out the latest news below for more on his current fantasy value.
$Signed a one-year, minor-league contract with the Nationals in February of 2024. Released by the Nationals in May of 2024.
Opts out of Nationals contract
PFree Agent  AAA
May 14, 2024
The Nationals released Bleier on Tuesday, Andrew Golden of The Washington Post reports.
ANALYSIS
The lefty exercised an opt-out clause in his minor-league contract and the Nats elected to give him his release rather than add him to the big-league roster. Bleier holds a 4.32 ERA and 10:2 K:BB over 16.2 innings this season with Triple-A Rochester.
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Pitching Stats
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2023
2022
2021
2020
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2017
2023 MLB Game Log
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2022 MLB Game Log
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2021 MLB Game Log
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2020 MLB Game Log
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2019 MLB Game Log
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2018 MLB Game Log
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2017 MLB Game Log
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Left/Right Pitching Splits
Since 2022
 
 
-5%
BAA vs LHP
2024
No Stats
2023
 
 
-28%
BAA vs RHP
2022
 
 
-24%
BAA vs LHP
BAA Batters K BB H 2B 3B HR
Since 2022vs Left .293 141 21 5 39 11 0 4
Since 2022vs Right .310 213 27 10 61 19 0 4
2024vs Left 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
2024vs Right 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
2023vs Left .372 47 6 1 16 2 0 3
2023vs Right .269 85 10 4 21 4 0 2
2022vs Left .256 94 15 4 23 9 0 1
2022vs Right .336 128 17 6 40 15 0 2
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Home/Away Pitching Splits
Since 2022
 
 
-28%
ERA at Home
2024
No Stats
2023
 
 
-49%
ERA at Home
2022
 
 
-11%
ERA at Home
ERA WHIP IP W L SV K/9 BB/9 HR/9
Since 2022Home 3.56 1.51 43.0 2 1 0 5.7 2.1 0.8
Since 2022Away 4.93 1.30 38.1 1 1 1 4.9 1.2 0.9
2024Home 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
2024Away 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
2023Home 3.86 1.34 18.2 1 0 0 4.3 1.0 1.4
2023Away 7.50 1.42 12.0 0 0 0 5.3 2.3 1.5
2022Home 3.33 1.64 24.1 1 1 0 6.7 3.0 0.4
2022Away 3.76 1.25 26.1 1 1 1 4.8 0.7 0.7
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Advanced Pitching Stats
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Defensive Stats
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Stats Vs Today's Lineup
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Recent RotoWire Articles Featuring Richard Bleier See More
Mound Musings: A Look at Pitching in the AL East
March 16, 2023
Brad Johnson continues his analysis of pitching in each division with the AL East, where in Toronto Johnson anticipates Alek Manoah will have another spectacular season.
Weekly Pitcher Rankings: Flying Solo
August 6, 2022
Todd Zola ranks pitchers ahead of a week in which very few have a pair of appealing starts, with Zack Wheeler a notable exception.
Mound Musings: Endgame Odyssey – National League
April 7, 2022
Brad Johnson reviews unsettled National League bullpens, starting in St. Louis where Jordan Hicks has recently moved from reliever to starter.
NL FAAB Factor: Waiver Pickups of the Week
April 3, 2022
Jan Levine kicks off the column for the season and dives right into all the NL positional battles.
Closer Encounters: Spring Developments
March 31, 2022
Ryan Rufe checks out closer scenarios around the league, including in San Francisco where manager Gabe Kapler named his man for the ninth inning.
Past Fantasy Outlooks
2022
2021
2019
2018
2017
Since making his major-league debut as a 29-year old in 2016, Bleier has posted an ERA below 2.00 in three seasons and an ERA below 3.00 in all but one campaign. He relies on an extreme groundball approach and in turn limiting home runs. That's proven effective, as he's allowed only 0.6 HR/9 while inducing groundballs at a 66% clip across 249 career innings. In 2021, Bleier picked up a career-high 20 holds, with 51 of his 68 appearances coming in the seventh inning or later and 40 coming with the game either tied or the team leading by three runs or fewer. However, that's likely to be the peak of his production, as his 19.6 K% in 2021 was a career-high rate and doesn't fit a typical closer role. Nevertheless, he's proven to be a trusted member of the Marlins bullpen and could be in a position to rack up holds once again.
A lefty member of the Orioles' back-end committee in 2019, Bleier was flipped to the Marlins for a PTBNL a week into the 2020 season. He missed time with a triceps strain, but his performance on the field impressed the Marlins enough for the team to tender him a contract for 2021.
For the third straight season, Bleier posted a sub-2.00 ERA, despite most ERA estimators portending about twice that. Granted, two of the three years were partial campaigns. Before season-ending surgery in June on his left shoulder, Bleier tossed 32 frames with a 1.93 ERA, essentially half of a 3.81 SIERA and 4.02 xFIP. Usually, it's a high strikeout rate driving this, but Bleier matched his career mark of just 11%, instead entrusting his ability to locate, a 59% groundball rate and a 21% hard-hit rate, third lowest among pitchers tossing at least 30 innings. The southpaw relies on an 89-mph sinker and cutter, mixing in a fastball, curve and slider. Even though Bleier is supposed to be fully recovered from surgery, his low strikeout rate precludes him from fantasy relevance, even in the off chance he continues to defy the ERA estimators.
Bleier came over to the Orioles from the Yankees during spring training in a rare intra-divisional trade between the two clubs. He flirted with danger a fair bit in 2017, but his 88 percent strand rate allowed him to escape with strong ratios. His FIP checked in at 4.42 and his BABIP was well below league-average at .268. Outpitching his peripherals to that extent in a second consecutive year would be an astounding feat. History suggests extreme regression is likely. Look for Bleier to be a heavily-used middle reliever that doesn't provide the strikeout (3.7 K/9 in 2017) or ratio upside to be useful in the vast majority of formats.
At age 29, Bleier made his major league debut and served primarily as a lower-leverage, left-handed specialist. Though he ended up shuttling back and forth between the majors and minors, the Bleier was more effective with the Yankees and worked to a 1.96 ERA over 23 appearances. His stuff isn't overpowering -- his average fastball velocity in the majors was just a tick over 89 mph -- so the 29-year-old has always relied more on inducing groundballs than racking up strikeouts. That held true in his rookie season with just 13 strikeouts in 23 innings, but he's been able to make it work without swing-and-miss stuff for the most part. Bleier was also especially effective against lefties, as he limited them to just a .150/.209/.200 slash line. It's unlikely he'll turn into much of a contributor in fantasy formats, but he should get a shot to make the Opening Day roster.
More Fantasy News
Signs MiLB deal with Nationals
PWashington Nationals  AAA
February 1, 2024
Bleier signed a minor-league contract with the Nationals on Thursday, Andrew Golden of The Washington Post reports.
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Lands with North Siders
PChicago Cubs  AAA
August 17, 2023
Bleier signed a minor-league contract Thursday with the Cubs, Patrick Mooney of The Athletic reports.
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Cut loose after clearing waivers
PFree Agent  AAA
August 9, 2023
Bleier was released by the Red Sox on Wednesday, Chris Cotillo of The Springfield Republican reports.
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Pushed off 40-man roster
PBoston Red Sox  AAA
August 7, 2023
The Red Sox designated Bleier for assignment on Monday.
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Activated from injured list
PBoston Red Sox  AAA
July 17, 2023
Bleier (shoulder) was activated from the 15-day injured list Monday, Chris Cotillo of The Springfield Republican reports.
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