Former Orioles lefty reliever Richard Bleier, who recently announced his retirement, says he’s grateful for the opportunity to establish himself as a big leaguer in Baltimore and learn from veteran relievers along the way.
Bleier pitched 154.1 innings and made 143 appearances for the Orioles from 2017-2020. The 6-foot-3, 238-pound lefty posted a 3.15 ERA and walked a total of 25 hitters during that time, pounding the zone with a sinker-cutter-slider combination to generate weak contact.
Bleier was dealt to the Orioles by the Yankees ahead of the 2017 campaign, which turned out to be his big break. He made his Orioles debut in May of that season and never looked back.
“It was where I established my career, I think, and also learned a lot,” Bleier said on Glenn Clark Radio Feb. 14. “When I first came over in ’17, Darren O’Day, Brad Brach, Mychal Givens, Zack Britton were all out in the bullpen, so to have those kinds of guys, watch how they do work and what they’re doing and what they’re talking about and how they’re acting was really eye-opening and just a great experience. The value of veteran leadership really goes a long way. I really feel like that helped me out tremendously learning how to carve my own path out in the big leagues.”
Bleier was caught in between successful eras in Baltimore, having arrived too late to enjoy the best Dan Duquette-Buck Showalter squads and being shipped out too early to contribute to the best Mike Elias-Brandon Hyde teams. His most productive season as an Oriole came in 2017, when he posted a 1.99 ERA across 63.1 innings despite striking out just 26 batters.
Without overpowering stuff, Bleier had to think his way through outings.
“I was very prepared for games, very prepared for hitters, extremely prepared,” he said. “I would watch hours of video of myself against them, them against other people. I would research hitters and what they were saying to the media, if they were saying they were working on specific things, if they were struggling with certain things. I would try to use any information I could to my advantage because there’s so much on the line.”
Bleier, who turns 38 in April and has two kids, was drafted by the Rangers in the sixth round of the 2008 MLB Draft out of Florida Gulf Coast University. He then spent nine years honing his craft in the minor leagues before making his major league debut with the Yankees in 2016 and finding his footing in Baltimore.
Bleier was traded to his hometown Marlins during the COVID season of 2020. He remained with the Marlins until pitching for the Red Sox in 2023. He’s proud of the career he put together.
“In 2015, I had a really good year with the Nationals in the minor leagues. I told my agent, ‘Look, I just want to sign with a team that’s going to give me the best chance to get one day in the big leagues so it can make all the stuff I did before this worth it and say, ‘I’m a major leaguer,'” Bleier said. “When I walked onto the field with the Yankees Day 1, that was it, mission accomplished. I achieved my goal. I think that’s what helped me be successful early on was because I had no pressure.”
Bleier gave it one last go in 2024, signing a minor league deal with the Nationals just before camp started. He ended up recording a 4.32 ERA in 16.2 innings for Triple-A Rochester before opting out of his contract in mid-May, ending his career for good.
Bleier knew it was over.
“It’s hard to compete against people that are over 10 years younger than me and want it more than I do, and I tried,” he said. “I signed with the Nationals after the Red Sox season. I worked hard and gave it my all. I had a great spring training with the Nationals. It just didn’t work out. I came up a guy or two short there. I went to Triple-A for six weeks. At that point, I was counting down the days until my opt-out, honestly. There was no major league interest after that. I was done then.”
For more from Bleier, listen to the full interview here:
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