Jeffrey Joseph Bleday was originally signed by Marlins scout Christian Castorri…Began his high school career at Titusville (Pa.) High School and graduated from A. Crawford Mosley (Panama City Beach, Fla.) High School…Attended Vanderbilt, where he was named to six First Team All-America teams and was the SEC Player of the Year in 2019…Set a school record and led the nation in home runs (27).
2024
Batted .243 with 43 doubles, two triples, 20 home runs, 60 RBI and a .762 OPS in 159 games after combining to hit .183 with 21 doubles, two triples, 15 home runs, 43 RBI and a .631 OPS in 147 games over his first two seasons in the majors...The 43 doubles ranked sixth in the majors and tied for fourth in A's history…They set a franchise record for a center fielder, breaking the previous mark of 38 set by Dave Henderson in 1988 …They tied for second-most by an Athletic center fielder and were the most since Hall of Famer Al Simmons set the record with 53 in 1926...Also tied for 10th in the majors in games played and tied for 17th in extra-base hits (67)...Led the A’s in games, at-bats (572), doubles, triples (four), walks (67) and extra-base hits...Had career highs in every category except stolen bases...Nearly half of his hits were extra-base hits (67-of-139, 48.2%)…105 of his 223 (47.1%) career hits are extra-base hits...Batted .250 (114-for-456) with a .773 OPS against right-handed pitchers, .216 (25-for-116) with a .714 OPS against left-handers…Drew 59 of his 67 walks against righties...His average slipped to .227 with runners in scoring position…Connected for 10 of his 20 home runs with runners on base...Hit 13 of his 20 home runs at home but batted .219 in the Coliseum compared to .268 on the road...Seven of his 20 home runs gave the A’s the lead, as have 12 of 35 in his career...Led Major League center fielders in doubles (43), ranked second in walks (64) and extra-base hits (67), tied for third in hits (137), tied for fourth in home runs (20) and fifth in RBI (60)…Is the fifth center fielder in A's history with 20 or more home runs in a season (Dwayne Murphy three times, Dave Henderson three times, Coco Crisp and Ramón Laureano one time each)...Appeared exclusively in center field on defense, where he made 144 of his 145 starts (also had one start at designated hitter)…Ranked second in the majors among outfielders in total chances (405), tied for second in putouts (392) and games played (157), tied for ninth in games started and most errors (five) and tied for 10th in assists (eight)…Led center fielders in games and tied for second in assists…Had -18 defensive runs saved, which was the fewest among Major League center fielders and tied for last among all players (Willi Castro)...Had the third-most games played by a center fielder in A's history, the eighth-most putouts and tied for the eighth-most total chances…The total chances and putouts were the most since Dwayne Murphy in 1985 (444 total chances, 434 putouts) and the games were the most since Terrence Long in 2002 (162)...Went 0-for-9 with two walks as a pinch hitter and is now 0-for-20 with three walks in the pinch in his career...Made a team-leading 77 starts batting third in the order and hit .276 with 13 home runs and 37 RBI…Started games at every spot except ninth for the second consecutive season…Went 4-for-56 (.071) with three walks in the leadoff spot in the order...Had nine home runs in 46 interleague games, 11 in 113 games against American League teams.
2023
Was acquired by the A’s from Miami for A.J. Puk prior to the start of Spring Training and began the year at Triple-A Las Vegas…was recalled May 3 and spent the remainder of the season with Oakland with the exception of a six-week stint on the injured list near the end of the season...Baatted .195 with 10 home runs, 27 RBIs and a .666 OPS in 78 games with the A’s after hitting .167 with five home runs, 16 RBIs and a .586 OPS in 65 games in his Major League debut with the Marlins in 2022...Walked 42 times for a .310 on-base percentage…now has a .183 career batting average but his on-base percentage is more than 100 points better at .296...His .195 batting was fifth lowest in the majors among players with at least 300 plate appearances…using the same minimum, it was fourth lowest in Oakland history and the lowest since Jason Giambi hit .193 in 2009...Hit .209 (40-for-191) with nine of his 10 home runs, 22 of his 27 RBsI and a .726 OPS against right-handed pitchers compared to .154 (10-for-65) with a .482 OPS against left-handers...Batted .179 with runners in scoring position...Four of his 10 home runs put the A’s ahead...Batted .296 with five home runs and 13 RBIs in 17 games against American League East teams, .168 with five home runs and 14 RBI in 65 games against all other teams...Hit .222 with nine of his 10 home runs and 22 of his 27 RBIs in innings 1-6, .138 in the seventh inning or later...Batted .090 with two strikes and has a .098 career average in that situation...Started 38 games in left field, 27 in center field and six in right field…had four assists in 75 games overall in the outfield…committed three errors for a .982 fielding percentage...Also made two starts at designated hitter...Was 0-for-6 as a pinch hitter and is now 0-for-11 with a walk in the pinch in his career...Started games at every spot in the order except ninth…had his most starts batting fifth (18)…Also hit .333 with eight doubles, two triples, eight home runs, 23 RBIs, a 1.110 OPS and 31 runs scored in 28 games with Las Vegas…added 23 walks for a .444 on-base percentage...Batted .346 at home, .338 against right-handed pitchers and .419 during the day...Started 18 games in center field, five in left field and four in right field…had three assists and also committed three errors in 27 games overall in the outfield (.950 fielding percentage)…Hit in every spot in the order from second through seventh.
2022
Made both his Triple-A and Major League debuts in 2022…was batting .228 with 20 home runs, 52 RBI and an .835 OPS in 85 games with Jacksonville when he was selected by Miami on July 23…hit .167 with five home runs, 16 RBI and a .586 OPS with the Marlins...Walked 30 times with Miami for a .277 on-base percentage...His batting average was the lowest in the majors from July 23 through the end of the season…had the fifth-lowest OPS, sixth-lowest slugging percentage (.309) and 10th-lowest on-base percentage over that span...Hit .168 (.27-for-161) with a .619 OPS against right-handed pitchers, .163 (7-for-43) with a .442 OPS against left-handers…drew all 30 of his walks, hit four of his five home runs and drove in 15 of his 16 runs against righties...Had a .250 batting average with runners in scoring position...Connected for four of his five home runs on the road...Hit .107 with two strikes...Started 37 games in center field, 15 in left field and four in right field…committed one error in 64 games overall in the outfield (.991 fielding percentage)…had one assist...Was 0-for-5 with a walk and three strikeouts as a pinch hitter...Started games at every spot in the order except first and ninth…made 21 starts batting fifth and 16 hitting cleanup...While at Jacksonville, he walked 60 times and was hit by a pitch five times for a .365 on-base percentage…reached base safely in 73 of his 85 games and did not go back-to-back games without reaching base...His 20 home runs ranked third in the Marlins farm system and he was fourth in walks...Batted .232 (46-for-198) with an .849 OPS against right-handed pitchers, .221 (23-for-104) with an .807 OPS against left-handers. • His average increased each month at Triple-A as he hit .189 in April, .212 in May, .256 in June and .259 in July...Hit .269 with 15 home runs, 41 RBI and a .965 OPS in 46 games on the road compared to .173 with five home runs, 11 RBI and a .658 OPS in 39 games at home...Batted .120 with two strikes...Started 38 games in center field, 27 in right field, 17 in left field and two at designated hitter… had five assists and committed four errors...Saw his most action with 59 starts in the five spot in the order…also started games in the six (17), one (6) and four (2) spots...DAY-BY-DAY: Got off to a slow start as he hit .159 with two home runs and six RBI over his first 18 games through April 27…equaled his minor league career-high with four strikeouts on April 26 at Clearwater (also June 3 at Norfolk)…had a nine-game hitting streak from April 28 to May 7…went 14-for-33 (.424) with three doubles, four home runs, ten RBI, 12 runs scored and eight walks (.537 on-base percentage) during the streak…homered in three straight games at Memphis, May 6-7…matched his minor league career-best with three hits on the 6th…went 2-for-34 (.059) with seven walks over a ten-game stretch from May 8-20…had a minor league career-high four RBI on June 4 at Norfolk and matched his best with three hits…had his first career two-homer game June 12 against Gwinnett…had a nine-game hitting streak from June 24 to July 4 (12-for-34, .353)…batted .256 with nine home runs, 22 RBI and a .980 OPS in 25 games in June…hit safely in each of his final seven games with Jacksonville, going 9-for-27 (.333) with three home runs and eight RBI…was tied for the International League lead in home runs (20) and ranked third in walks (60) when he was selected by Miami on July 23…made his Major League debut that day at Pittsburgh when he entered the game in the seventh inning as a defensive replacement in left field…walked in the ninth inning in his first plate appearance…made his first start the next day against the Pirates in center field and went 2-for-4 with a double…had an infield single off Mitch Keller in the second inning for his first big league hit…also stole his first base…drove in his first run on July 27 at Cincinnati when he hit his first home run, a solo shot off Luis Castillo in the fourth inning…his best hitting streaks were a pair of three-game streaks from Aug. 2-5 (4-for-9, .444) and Aug. 7-10 (5-for-9, .556)…had three 0-for-15 streaks and a career-high 0-for-19 streak from Sept. 27 to Oct. 5…went 3-for-3 with a walk Aug. 10 at Philadelphia for his first career three-hit game… was 7-for-61 (.115) over a 21-game span from Aug. 12 to Sept. 6 but walked 16 times for a .308 on-base percentage…hit his fourth home run in his 27th game on Aug. 21…would homer just once over his final 38 games…did not drive in a run over a 16-game stretch from Aug. 27 to Sept. 13…struck out a career-high four times Sept. 21 against Chicago (NL)…hit .133 in 26 games in September.
2021
Spent the entire 2021 season with Double-A Pensacola. Hit .212 with 12 home runs and 54 RBI...Hit .311 with 3 doubles, a home run and 11 RBI in 13 games in September...After the season, played for the Mesa Solar Sox in the Arizona Fall League. Named the Fall League’s Hitter of the Year after hitting .316 with five home runs, eight doubles and 24 RBI, while working 20 walks in 24 games...Named the Fall Stars Game Most Valuable Player after he recorded two hits and three RBI, including a two-run home run...Helped the Solar Sox to an Arizona Fall League Championship with an RBI in the championship game.
2020
Jeffrey Joseph Bleday spent the 2020 season at the Marlins 60-man Player Pool in Jupiter.
2019
Selected with the fourth overall pick of the 2019 MLB Draft by the Miami Marlins after being named to six first-team All-America Teams...Assigned to Single-A Jupiter to begin his pro career, where he hit .257 (36x140) with three home runs, eight doubles, and 19 RBI in 38 games...Named SEC Player of the Year, SEC Tournament MVP, First-Team All-SEC, finalists for the Golden Spikes Award, All-College World Series Team...Vanderbilt single-season record holder and national leader in home runs in 2019 (27) becoming the first Commodore since Scotti Madison (1979) to lead the SEC in home runs…Finished second in the Commodore record books in single-season runs (82) and walks (61); third in RBI (72)…Closed his career with a 51-game on base streak and reached base in 97 of his final 98 games...Led nation in total bases (192), fourth in runs (82), fifth in hits (95) and sixth in walks (61)…Became the ninth player and first since 2003 to record five hits in an SEC Tournament game, doing so with a 5x5 performance on May 22 against Auburn.
