Jays Select Phil Bickford: Mechanics Continue to Mean Nothing

You'd think after years of having seasons thrown away because of pitcher injuries the Jays Front Office would get a clue and stop acquiring pitchers with bad mechanics that lead to injuries. But, that clearly isn't the case as with the 10th overall pick in tonight's draft, the Blue Jays picked high school RHP Phil Bickford from California.  I'm getting tired of the Jays being stupid.

Bickford has the 2nd best high school in the draft according to BA, reaching 97 MPH and sitting between 92 and 94 MPH. This might be good, but a flamethrower with bad mechanics leads to injuries 99.9% of the time.

He also lacks a good breaking pitch. His slider can be a wipeout pitch some times, but most of the time it will just hang up there and get hit. Phil also throws a change up which is nothing to write home about, so yeah, very exciting player!

The best worst part about Bickford though has to be his mechanics. He throws with a 3/4 arm slot as shown in this video below, and is just an injury waiting to happen. His high ceiling is very nice, but it's hard to reach a ceiling without an arm. Given the odds that his arm falls off(not literally obviously), his ceiling seems untouchable.

But wait, there's more. He's also a tough sign. So, if he doesn't sign, the Jays get the 11th pick next year, in what is considered as an even weaker draft than this one!!! Hurray!!! This was such a smart move.

The Blue Jays have one starter in the big leagues with good mechanics(Buehrle), and he is vastly overpaid, and might be leaving town soon. In the minors, their best prospects, Aaron Sanchez and Roberto Osuna, both have horrid mechanics. Now throw in Bickford, and the Jays have really created a recipe for success faille here. There is an old saying that goes "Pitchers win Championships". It means healthy pitchers, not the Josh Johnson and Phil Bickford's of the world!

Want to know why you should hate this pick? Law had him at 55 on his rankings.

How does one spin this is a good pick? Fail to mention the bad, obviously. Take it away, Brian Parker.

I'll leave with this. The Jays need a philosophy change. If it requires a new GM, then that's the cost that will need to be paid. But, AA can't keep on getting these guys that are destined to be hurt, and then blame everything on bad luck. It might be time to #FireAA(not mid-season, off-season).

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