Part of this article was previously published on CrescentCitySports.com.

Former Newman High School pitching star Jeremy Bleich was recently hired as Assistant General Manager for the Arizona Diamondbacks. His responsibilities will include overseeing the club’s pitching development infrastructure and assisting in pitching-related player acquisitions.

The 38-year-old Bleich previously worked for the Pittsburgh Pirates for six seasons in a variety of pitching development roles, the most recent as director of pitching. One of his primary responsibilities was working with Pirates pitching prospects, including Paul Skenes, who won the National League Cy Young Award in 2025.

One of the main reasons Bleich was of interest to the Diamondbacks was his contribution to the Pirates’ pitching staff performance in 2025. Despite the team’s last-place finish in the NL Central Division, they ranked third overall in the National League in ERA (3.76), fifth in Adjusted ERA (114), and third in WHIP (1.216).

On the other hand, the Diamondbacks’ pitching staff was one of the weakest in the league in 2025. They were 12th in ERA (4.49), 10th in ERA+ (97), and 11th in WHIP (1.318).

The Pirates have had recent success in developing pitching prospects beyond Skenes. According to Baseball America’s Top 10 prospects in the Pirates system, five of them are pitchers.

Bleich will report to Diamondbacks GM Mike Hazen. According to AZCentral, Hazen wants to get the team’s pitching in line with its position player development and sees Bleich as a key player who can help accomplish it.

“We just haven’t been happy with the way the overall pitching infrastructure has gone,” Hazen said. “The results, certainly, at the major league level speak to that. I want to be realistic about the things we’ve done and haven’t done as well and that’s one of those areas where I feel like we haven’t done as good of a job in.”

Bleich was twice an All-State performer at Newman. He was named the Metro Player of the Year in 2005, after posting a 7-1 record and 0.56 ERA. The left-hander was named a first-team high school All-American by Collegiate Baseball.

He played collegiately at Stanford University and was drafted in the first round (44th overall pick) of the 2008 MLB June Draft by the New York Yankees.

Bleich pitched 11 seasons in the minors with seven different organizations. He made his major league debut with the Oakland Athletics in 2018. He began his career with the Pirates organization after his last professional season as a player in 2019.