Philadelphia signs relief Phil Bickford The member announced that he was assigned to Triple A Lehigh Valley. Alex Coll reported the move for the first time last night.
After Bickford signed a minor league contract for the offseason, Bickford spent the entire season with the Cubs’ organization. He was released last week. When Bickford pitched very well with the Cubs Top Farm Team, it could be irritated by the exit clause. He released a 2.60 ERA while hitting 27 2/3 innings against 34% of the batsmen. He walked away less than 6% of his opponent with a 13.6% swing strike rate.
This is not enough for the bear to carve out the MLB roster. Last season, Bickford didn’t get a lot of major league appearances either. He played eight games with the Yankees and allowed nine runs in 8 1/3 innings. He performed well in Triple-A against New York and struck out at 30% at a 3.40 ERA. He recently extended to two seasons in the Major League Baseball (MLB) level when he allowed an ERA of nearly 5.00 on 61 appearances.
Bickford didn’t have an overwhelming speed. His fastball averaged 93 mph. He used the court in three quarters of the time and used the sliders as a throw-in in the mid-80s. He will hope to achieve his early season success in the Lehigh Valley and gain a spot in the Major League bullpen. Philadelphia pitchers are relatively inexperienced – Seth Johnson,,,,, Daniel Robert and Max Lazal – Relief in the middle. All three have minor league options, so Bickford has a good path to getting himself into major league clubs in the near term. The Phillies are almost certain to add one or two established trades by the end of the month.
