Players the Red Sox should move on from -- No 2: Richard Bleier
When it was announced that the Red Sox had made a trade for Richard Bleier, I was excited for it on two fronts: 1) the Red Sox had finally managed to get Matt Barnes out of the bullpen, and 2) I couldn't stop thinking of the Foolish Baseball video all about Bleier. I was extremely hopeful that Bleier could serve as a solid lefty option coming out of the bullpen, and would really work well later on in games.
So far, that hasn't been the case with good ole Dicky B. In 19 appearances, Bleier has put up a career low ERA+ of 79, pitching to the tune of a 5.85 ERA and a WHIP of 1.35. Now, Bleier was placed on the injured list a couple of weeks ago, so his numbers may have been affected by this, but even still, I would've hoped for a bit more out of Bleier this year.
Even though it has been better than last year's iteration, the bullpen this year still hasn't instilled a lot of confidence in the fanbase. It feels like there's been at least one pitching decision that ends up being a mistake per game, and it would almost make more sense to try and cull out a lot of the stale arms in the bullpen in order for the Red Sox to turn their fortunes around, and that should start with Bleier.