Reliever’s 10-year path to majors
Ten years after the Yankees selected him 44th overall from Stanford, 10 years in which he was with five organizations without reaching the big leagues, the A’s called up lefthander Jeremy Bleich from Triple-A Nashville on Friday.
His reaction Friday afternoon?
“A little bit of everything,” said Bleich, who pitched for the Cardinal from 2006 through ’08, “emotional, a little bit nervous, anxious, excited. …
“It’s extremely special. I get chills every time I think about it or talk about it. It’s just a journey. I wouldn’t trade my path for anything else.”
Bleich’s path didn’t lead to a fairy-tale beginning to his bigleague career. He entered Friday night’s game against the Giants at AT&T Park with the bases loaded and no outs in the seventh inning. Bleich allowed a two-run double to Steven Duggar and then hit Brandon Belt with a pitch. That was it for Bleich’s night. Both Duggar and Belt eventually scored, giving Bleich an infinity ERA in the majors.
An 0-2 slider to Duggar proved to be Bleich’s undoing.
“It’s certainly not the way I wanted to start,” Bleich said. “I have to bury that slider there. I felt comfortable . ... Just try to flush it and get ready for tomorrow.”
After he left Stanford, Bleich had to deal with a left labrum tear that cost him all of the 2011 season and considerable parts of 2010 and ’12. He later spent time in the Pittsburgh and Philadelphia organizations.
Arizona signed him in February 2017 but released him a month later after he had pitched for Israel in the World Baseball Classic.
Bleich thought his career might be over at that point, but he wound up pitching parts of two seasons for the Somerset Patriots of the independent Atlantic League before the Dodgers signed him. He pitched in Double-A and Triple-A for Los Angeles last year. His pitching coach with Triple-A Oklahoma City was Matt Herges, now the Giants’ bullpen coach.
Bleich credited Herges with developing a mind-set of “attacking hitters. That’s what I think about. I try not to think too much about mechanics or anything like that.”
The A’s signed Bleich, 31, in January. With Nashville, he had a 3.00 ERA with 38 strikeouts in 39 innings. Bleich gives manager Bob
Melvin a second lefty in the bullpen (Ryan Buchter is the other). Melvin, by the way, is a former Cal catcher.
“We add another Stanford guy,” Melvin said of Bleich. “I don’t know how well that sits with me, but that’s OK. … It is a great story.”
To make room on the 25-man roster, the A’s optioned reliever
Josh Lucas to Nashville. To get Bleich on the 40-man roster, the A’s moved starter Andrew
Triggs (right arm nerve irritation) to the 60-day disabled list.
International signings: The A’s announced the signing of 16 international players from seven countries. There are five players from the Dominican Republic and five from Venezuela. There are also two from Cuba and one each from Colombia, Mexico, Nicaragua and Panama.
One name of note: Venezuelan right-hander Luis Carrasco is the cousin of Cleveland right-hander Carlos Carrasco.
Briefly: Khris Davis went 0-for-2, and his hitting streak ended at 14 games. The streak was the longest in Davis’ career, the longest for the A’s this season and the longest active one in the majors . ... Daniel Mengden gave up four runs (all earned) on five hits in four innings in a rehab start for Nashville on Friday night. He took the loss in a 5-3 decision at Iowa.