With their bullpen, the New York Yankees have been taking chances as they try to overcome injuries and inconsistent play. They have added more arms to the mix in an attempt to achieve stability, but not all of the additions have worked.
Troubled with Phil Bickford’s Performance
Phil Bickford, a bullpen pitcher with past experience with the Los Angeles Dodgers and New York Mets, is one of the newest additions. With 185.2 innings pitched in his MLB career, Bickford finished the previous season with a 4.95 ERA in 67.1 innings. Even though he pitched well in 2021, his ERA has remained above 4.72 ever since, and he is having a lot of trouble this now with the Yankees.
Pitching for the Yankees, Bickford has already recorded an astounding 14.40 ERA in just five innings. In his most recent appearance against Toronto, Bickford had a very bad outing: trailing 3-1, the Yankees watched as the Blue Jays scored five runs off of him in only 0.2 innings, needing 27 pitches to get out of the game. The team’s bullpen resources were further taxed when they had to employ two crucial players, Clay Holmes and Caleb Ferguson, simply to get through the inning.
The Yankees Should Probably Move On After batters get used to the shapes and locations of Bickford’s fastball and slider, his pitching repertoire becomes predictable. Bickford finds it difficult to be productive during his appearances because he has few weapons at his disposal to change up his strategy.
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