Jeremy Bleich (by Alex Eisenberg)

From Hardball Times

Breaking down the draft: Picks 44-49

Bleich has a pretty good tempo—he comes out around 24 frames from the point at which his knee reaches its uppermost point until release. Usually, the faster one's tempo, the better one's velocity; however, Bleich's velocity registered only between 87-91 mph.

One thing I was not impressed with was his arm action—it's a bit long, and he didn't generate much arm speed from the loaded position into release. He appears to be pushing the ball rather than throwing it. Also, he's a little too "tall-and-fall" for my taste, meaning that he comes to a balance point before driving toward home plate. He is essentially stopping his momentum mid-way through his wind-up. He isn't a complete tall-and-fall pitcher, but I would rather see his hips moving toward home plate a little earlier.

One thing that Bleich seemed to struggle with was his release point, which is probably one reason for his poor control at Stanford this past year. I can think of a couple reasons for this:

1. Front-side mechanics - Bleich's front-side mechanics aren't necessarily bad, but there is something that's not quite right. It could be Bleich firming up a little too late, or not leaving the glove extended out in front of his chest. Instead of letting the chest meet the glove, Bleich pulls the glove back, which I'm not really a fan of.

2. A somewhat late body rotation - I actually like the fact that Bleich has a fairly late body rotation, since it adds deception to his pitches, but it can have a negative impact on a pitcher's command if he doesn't have great body control and precise timing for when his body rotates and the arm is brought around into release.

Fastball Grade - 40 Now, 45 Future

Curveball Grade - 45 Now, 50 Future

As I mentioned earlier, Bleich's fastball clocks in only between 87 and 91. However, his fastball does have some decent tailing action. In addition to his fastball, Bleich has a low-to-mid-70s curve, which he actually commands a bit better than his fastball. He has issues with the consistency of the curveball, and as of now it profiles as a close to average pitch. I've read that his change-up is his best pitch, but he didn't throw one in the video I saw.

If you're a numbers guy, then you probably aren't happy with this pick. Bleich's strikeout numbers were okay (8.0 K/9), but his control scares the death out of me (5.1 BB/9). In addition, he appears to be a fly-ball pitcher (though the sample size is small). That isn't a combination that I would like in any pitcher.

Now, if you're searching for positives, Bleich's control was much better in '06 and '07. However, his K rate was also lower. Also, he gave up just one home run this past year; on the other hand, his home run rate was a lot higher the prior two years, as was his H/9.

Overall, I'm not very impressed with Bleich, and I feel that there better picks on the board, even among players who were drafted for their "signability."