Phil Bickford

Phil Bickford

29-Year-Old PitcherRP
 Free Agent  
Free Agent
2025 Fantasy Outlook
There was no outlook written for Phil Bickford in 2025. Check out the latest news below for more on his current fantasy value.
Signed a minor-league contract with the Cubs in November of 2024. Released by the Cubs in July of 2025.
Cut by Cubs
PFree Agent  
July 4, 2025
The Cubs released Bickford on Wednesday.
Analysis
Bickford has spent all season with the Cubs' Triple-A affiliate in Iowa, logging a strong 2.43 ERA and 0.72 WHIP with 37 strikeouts over 29.2 innings. The 29-year-old's impressive performance should be enough to draw attention from other clubs, and continued success could buy him another shot in the big leagues.
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Pitching Stats
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2024 MLB Game Log
2024
2023
2022
2021
2020
2024 MLB Game Log
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2023 MLB Game Log
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2022 MLB Game Log
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2021 MLB Game Log
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2020 MLB Game Log
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Minor League Game Log
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Left/Right Pitching Splits
Since 2023
 
 
-24%
BAA vs LHP
2025
No Stats
2024
 
 
-50%
BAA vs LHP
2023
 
 
-19%
BAA vs LHP
BAA Batters K BB H 2B 3B HR
Since 2023vs Left .198 139 31 13 24 4 0 3
Since 2023vs Right .262 204 51 27 45 12 2 6
2025vs Left 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
2025vs Right 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
2024vs Left .167 12 2 0 2 0 0 0
2024vs Right .333 27 4 1 8 2 0 1
2023vs Left .202 127 29 13 22 4 0 3
2023vs Right .250 177 47 26 37 10 2 5
Home/Away Pitching Splits
Since 2023
 
 
-58%
ERA at Home
2025
No Stats
2024
 
 
-100%
ERA at Home
2023
 
 
-48%
ERA at Home
ERA WHIP IP W L SV K/9 BB/9 HR/9
Since 2023Home 3.06 1.25 35.1 3 1 1 9.9 5.1 0.8
Since 2023Away 7.36 1.61 40.1 2 4 0 9.6 4.5 1.3
2025Home 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
2025Away 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
2024Home 0.00 0.67 3.0 0 0 0 6.0 0.0 0.0
2024Away 13.50 1.69 5.1 0 0 0 6.8 1.7 1.7
2023Home 3.34 1.30 32.1 3 1 1 10.3 5.6 0.8
2023Away 6.43 1.60 35.0 2 4 0 10.0 4.9 1.3
Advanced Pitching Stats
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Defensive Stats
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Stats Vs Today's Lineup
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Recent RotoWire Articles Featuring Phil Bickford See More
Recent RotoWire Articles Featuring Phil Bickford See More
Past Fantasy Outlooks
2022
2017
2016
Bickford is one of the many relievers we now see in baseball that takes two pitches, throws them with high effort and fills a niche in a club's bullpen. In Bickford's case, his job is to come in to face righties while slinging fastballs and sliders their way in short spurts. He worked fewer innings than games played, but picked up a handful of decisions in leverage situations with solid ratios. The repertoire pretty much limits him to a righty specialist insomuch as any reliever can be a specialist with the three-batter minimum rule these days. He has little fantasy relevance unless several dominoes in front of him fall.
At first glance, Bickford seemed like a steep price for the Giants to pay to acquire reliever Will Smith. But Bickford's recent performance, most notably at the 2016 Futures Game, left many observers unimpressed. Rather than showing the mid-90s fastball that intrigued scouts, Bickford has been sitting 88-92 with his fastball. And while his slider is devastating, he lacks a secondary pitch like a changeup he can use to challenge left-handed hitters. Bickford is only 21 years old and has plenty of time to develop and fix these flaws, but it's rare for teams to give up first-round talents like him without having an inkling that something is off. His control in particular was off in 2016; he walked five batters per nine innings after the Brewers acquired him. He'll have to figure that part of his game out before he can regain his top prospect status.
After being taken with the 18th pick in the 2015 MLB Draft, Bickford went to the Arizona League and posted a 2.01 ERA with 32 strikeouts in 22.1 innings. While it was a small sample, the 6-foot-5 righty exhibited the power and high-end strikeout ability that had scouts pegging him as a first-round talent. He possesses a plus fastball to go along with an average slider and changeup, but what makes him such an intriguing prospect is his combination of velocity with plus control. Looking ahead, Bickford will likely start the year in the lower levels, and is probably at least three years away from the big leagues. He should be a secondary target for those in dynasty leagues, as he does not have quite as high of a ceiling as some of the arms that went ahead of him last year's draft.
More Fantasy News
Inks minors deal with Cubs
PChicago Cubs  
November 22, 2024
Bickford signed a minor-league contract with the Cubs on Friday, Jon Heyman of the New York Post reports.
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Clears waivers
PNew York Yankees  
September 9, 2024
The Yankees outrighted Bickford to Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre on Monday.
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Pushed off 40-man
PNew York Yankees  
September 7, 2024
The Yankees designated Bickford for assignment Saturday.
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Selected from Triple-A
PNew York Yankees  
August 25, 2024
The Yankees selected Bickford's contract from Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre on Sunday.
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Back with Yanks
PNew York Yankees  
July 10, 2024
Bickford re-signed Thursday with the Yankees on a minor-league contract.
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Latest Fantasy Rumors
Not getting full pay
PFree Agent  
March 28, 2024
Bickford won't receive his full $900,000 salary for 2024 after being released by the Mets on Tuesday since he won that figure through an arbitration case, reports Tim Britton of The Athletic.
Analysis
The right-hander will still receive $217,000 in termination pay, but his salary for the year otherwise isn't guaranteed. Bickford had a 2.81 ERA in 57 outings for the Dodgers in 2021, but he has a 4.84 ERA in 128.1 frames over the past two seasons. The 28-year-old should be able to find a job elsewhere but will likely need to settle for a minor-league deal.
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