Arizona Diamondbacks hire rival exec to help revamp pitching pipeline

• The Arizona Diamondbacks have hired Jeremy Bleich from the Pittsburgh Pirates as their new assistant general manager.
• Bleich will be responsible for overseeing the organization’s pitching development.

The Diamondbacks have hired executive Jeremy Bleich away from the Pittsburgh Pirates in an assistant general manager role, sources said this week. Bleich will oversee the organization’s pitching development.

It is the latest change the Diamondbacks have made in hopes of revamping their pitching infrastructure, which has lagged behind the industry for years.

General manager Mike Hazen said last month the club was likely to push its pitchers harder from a strength and conditioning standpoint in hopes of generating more big-league-caliber arms.

Bleich had been the Pirates’ director of pitching development. That organization has done well developing pitching — both starters and relievers — in recent years. This past season, the Pirates posted the third-best ERA (3.76) in the National League with a staff that included several homegrown arms.

Bleich, 38, pitched parts of 11 seasons in professional baseball. He was drafted 44th overall out of Stanford by the New York Yankees in 2008. He made two appearances in the majors with the Oakland Athletics in 2018.

Bleich is the first high-ranking external addition the Diamondbacks have made to their front office in years.