As coach Jeremy Bleich (pronounced BLYSH;[1] born June 18, 1987) is an American-Israeli former professional baseball pitcher who currently works as an advance scout and analyst for the Pittsburgh Pirates and pitches for Team Israel.
He was profiled by author Michael Lewis in his short book Coach: Lessons on the Game of Life, published in 2005.
Bleich was selected in the First Round of the 2008 Major League Baseball Draft (44th overall) by the New York Yankees, out of Stanford University.
[8][9] His paternal grandparents George (from Poland) and Yolanda Bleich (from an area of Czechoslovakia that is now Ukraine; seven of her siblings were killed) were Auschwitz concentration camp Holocaust survivors.
[9][7] Remarking on how his father and siblings are all doctors, Bleich noted: "I always tell people I'm the black sheep of the family.
"[14] He is close friends with former outfielder Sam Fuld, whom he credits with being a great sounding board throughout his career.
[9] In high school by his junior year he had what author Michael Lewis described as "a decent fastball, great command, a big-league change-up and charm to burn", and had over 40 colleges recruiting him.
[9] As a pitcher at Isidore Newman, he was profiled by author Michael Lewis in his short book Coach: Lessons on the Game of Life, published in 2005.
He played in the 2004 WWBA World Championships with the Cincinnati Reds scout team, and in the 2005 High School All-American Game, in Albuquerque, New Mexico.
[18][9] Bleich was selected in the First Round of the 2008 Major League Baseball draft (44th overall) by the New York Yankees out of Stanford, and received a $700,000 signing bonus.
[23] He was named a Hawaii Winter Baseball post-season All-Star in 2008, pitching for the Waikiki BeachBoys, for whom he was 3–1 with a 1.77 ERA (2nd in the league among starters) in 7 starts.
[24] Bleich had surgery to repair a torn glenoid labrum in his throwing shoulder, after starting 8 games for Trenton in 2010.
[24] Bleich began the 2014 season pitching for Trenton, for whom he started 15 games, and was named the Eastern League Pitcher of the Week on May 26, 2014.
[24] Bleich signed with the Somerset Patriots of the Atlantic League of Professional Baseball on July 28, 2016, and went 2–2 with a 2.45 ERA in 17 relief appearances.
[33] Mid-season, his fastball was up to 95 mph, complemented by his curveball, changeup, and slider, and Oklahoma City pitching coach Matt Herges observed: "He's a strike machine, and he's fearless.
[39] A's general manager David Forst said, "Jeremy proved with his performance last year that he can pitch at this level.
[41] He made his major league debut that night against the San Francisco Giants, a decade after being drafted and after pitching for 14 different teams, at 31 years of age.
[53] He has worked on the positioning and shifting of the defense, in part by combining tendencies gleaned from advance scouting and from the available statistics.
[56] Bleich pitched for Team Israel at the 2017 World Baseball Classic main tournament, in March 2017.