Bickford burst onto the scene in 2016, debuting on the Brewers MLB Pipeline prospect watch as the Brewers fifth overall prospect. His graded out as a 55 overall on MLB’s 20-80 scale with a 65 fastball and a 55 slider. His fastball was hitting 98 MPH regularly with a 90 MPH two-seamer with some nasty sink to it.
During that 2016 season, he was 7-7 with a 2.93 ERA in 23 appearances, 22 of those games were starts. Batters hit in the low .200s against Bickford and he struck out 135 of them in 120 innings with 42 walks allowed.