As most contending teams do late in the summer, the Chicago Cubs have added some left-handed depth to their pitching staff by signing 36-year-old Richard Bleier to a minor league deal.
The veteran lefty is known for his time with the Baltimore Orioles and Miami Marlins. In 2023, Bleier pitched for the Boston Red Sox, but he struggled in 27 appearances, allowing 18 earned runs in 30.2 innings, posting a 5.28 ERA and 1.37 WHIP. However, he’s had a solid MLB career, recording a 3.27 ERA in 330.1 innings since making his MLB debut with the New York Yankees in 2016.
Throughout his MLB career, Bleier has been excellent facing left-handed batters and that’s what the Cubs are banking on if they do opt to give the veteran a look out of the bullpen in the next six weeks of the regular season. However, something is going to have to be addressed by the Cubs coaching staff because Bleier has not had the same success vs. lefties in 2023.
Richard Bleier 2016-2022 Splits
vs. LHB: 2.42 ERA, .225/.260/.313, 0.96 WHIP, 66.8 GB%
vs. RHB: 3.64 ERA, .304/.339/.453, 1.41 WHIP, 57.6 GB%
So, he was great against lefties and was able to minimize damage against righties. This year with the Red Sox, nothing seemed to be working.
Richard Bleier 2023 Splits
vs. LHB: 5.23 ERA, .372/.400/.628, 1.65 WHIP, 56.8 GB%
vs. RHB: 5.31 ERA, .269/.318/.397, 1.23 WHIP, 54.4 GB%
Pretty drastic change this season for the lefty, especially when you consider that he was an effective reliever for the Marlins in three consecutive seasons. From 2020-22, Bleier had a 3.09 ERA in 125.1 innings. That great stretch also included a couple of appearances with the Orioles before Bleier was traded to the Marlins on July 31, 2020.
The lefty has a career ground ball rate of 60.9%, which should play well with the Cubs middle infield that ranks near the top of baseball in defense.
Bleier was traded to the Red Sox last offseason from the Marlins. In 2022, the lefty had a 3.55 ERA and 1.44 WHIP in 50.2 innings with Miami.
So far in 2023, the Cubs have used right-handed reliever Mark Leiter Jr. as their primary weapon out of the bullpen to face opponents left-handed hitters and he’s done a great job. The right-hander has held lefties to a .465 OPS in 129 at-bats, striking out 52, which represents 36.4% of the left-handed hitters Leiter has pitched against this season.
Still, the Cubs probably want another left-handed option to go to late in the season and hopefully Bleier can turn it around in Chicago if he’s called upon.
