The Red Sox caught lightning in a bottle last season when 31-year-old reliever Ryan Brasier came out of nowhere after a brief stint in Japan to become a valuable piece of Boston’s bullpen.
Could the same happen in 2019?
OK, that’s probably a little dramatic, seeing as how the chances of history repeating itself just months later admittedly are slim to none. But the Red Sox just added a well-traveled reliever, giving the club some extra organizational bullpen depth, if nothing else.
The Red Sox signed left-hander Jeremy Bleich to a minor league contract, the team confirmed Thursday, according to MassLive.com’s Chris Cotillo.
Bleich, who turns 32 in June, has appeared in just two major league games — he retired one of the four batters he faced last season with the Oakland Athletics — but was a first-round pick (44th overall) of the New York Yankees back in 2008. He’s bounced around since the Yankees picked him out of Stanford, even spending time in independent ball, and likely will join either Triple-A Pawtucket or Double-A Portland in the Red Sox organization.
Bleich has made 250 career minor league appearances over the course of 10 seasons, working almost exclusively as a reliever since 2015. He posted a 2.63 ERA, 1.17 WHIP and 8.4 strikeouts per nine innings in 51 1/3 frames spanning 38 appearances last season with Triple-A Nashville of the A’s organization.
Bleich spent this past spring training with the Philadelphia Phillies but failed to crack the Opening Day roster.
