Tag: Brandon Bielak

Former Notre Dame pitcher Brandon Bielak traded to Oakland Athletics

Hope this works out for him.

Former Notre Dame pitcher [autotag]Brandon Bielak[/autotag] is saying goodbye to the only MLB organization he has ever known. Five days after the Houston Astros designed the right-hander for assignment, he has been traded to the Oakland Athletics for cash considerations.

Ironically, the A’s and Astros are in the middle of a series with each other, so Bielak will be going to the other clubhouse when he next arrives at Minute Maid Park. That’s always a fun quirk whenever it happens in baseball.

Bielak was an 11th-round selection by the Astros out of Notre Dame in 2017. He made his big-league debut early in the COVID-shortened 2020 season. In five seasons, he has an 11-13 record and one save to go with a 4.65 ERA, 155 strikeouts and 85 walks over 191 2/3 innings. In the early part of this season, he has a 5.71 ERA over 17 1/3 innings and has not pitched since May 7.

Best of luck to Bielak in his new surroundings.

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Watch: Brandon Bielak has perfect relief outing for first win of 2021

Brandon Bielak did incredibly well in his first 2021 appearance.

Former Notre Dame pitcher Brandon Bielak had quite the 2021 debut for the Houston Astros on Sunday. Called on to relieve Jose Urguidy with one out in the fifth inning, Bielak could not have had a better afternoon. Bielak pitched 4 2/3 perfect innings and struck out four to earn his first victory of the season as the Astros finished a road sweep of the Oakland Athletics by a 9-2 final. There was no need for Dusty Baker to use anymore of his bullpen while watching a performance like this:

Bielak, who celebrated his 25th birthday Friday, has been with the Astros since they selected him during the 11th round of the 2017 Amateur Draft. To date, Bielak is the only draftee from that round to crack the majors. He’s also the most recent Irish player to get to baseball’s highest level. While he hasn’t proven himself a starter there yet, he’s young enough to still do so, and this outing was a nice push in that direction.