If Luke Voit is the incumbent, the Goliath, then you have to
think that Greg Bird is David, right? I mean, aside from a big home run or two
in the 2017 postseason, Greg Bird and his health have left much to be desired.
Bird essentially lost his starting job at first base last season to Voit and is
in camp looking to win it back. Can he do it? Only time will tell, but while we
wait for it all unfold this spring let’s get reacquainted with the Birdman of
New York.
Greg Bird, 26-years old, is a left-handed batting and
right-handed throwing first baseman that was originally drafted as a catcher by
the New York Yankees. Bird does not swing and miss as much as some, the lefty
has right around a 33% swing and miss rate, but he will never be a .300 hitter
at the MLB level either. Bird has an uppercut swing that could take advantage
of the short porch inside Yankee Stadium if he is ever healthy enough to play a
full, productive season.
Gregory Paul Bird was born on November 9, 1992 in Memphis
TN. His family eventually moved him to Aurora, Colorado where the lefty
swinging Bird attended Grandview High School. While at the school, Bird was a
catcher and the battery mate of MLB pitcher Kevin Gausman. Bird was named the
Colorado Gatorade Baseball Player of the Year as a senior and committed to
attending the University of Arkansas to play college baseball. The Yankees
drafted Bird in the fifth round of the 2011 MLB First Year Players Draft,
hoping a $1.1 million signing bonus would convince him to bypass his commitment
to Arkansas. Bird eventually signed with the Yankees and was immediately moved
to first base.
Bird played four games after signing in 2011 and another 28
games in 2012, this time due to injury. Bird had a breakout season in 2013 and
even won the Kevin Lawn Award as the Yankees Minor League Player of the Year.
Bird reached as high as Double-A in 2014 before heading to the Arizona Fall
League after the season, including a trip to the AFL Fall Stars Game. With an
AFL MVP Award in his hands he headed back to Double-A, and eventually to
Triple-A, for the 2015 season before the New York Yankees big league club came
calling on August 13. Bird made his MLB debut that same night and ended the
game 0-5. Bird became the Yankees everyday starter after Teixeira suffered a shin
fracture on a hit-by-pitch that ended his season.
Bird suffered a right shoulder injury during the offseason
before the 2016 season and was never quite right, even after a successful
surgery to repair a torn labrum. Bird missed the entire 2016 season before
heading down to the AFL once again to get some work in before the 2017 season.
Bird made it through spring training healthy in 2017, we thought anyway, but an
ankle injury that he sustained in the spring landed him on the disabled list on
May 2nd, thus hampering what looked to be a strong season for the
Yankees first baseman. Bird was later diagnosed with an injury to the os
trigonum in his right foot and would need to have surgery to remove the bone.
After missing 103 games, Bird returned to the lineup just in time for the 2017
postseason. Bird would come back and hit an integral home run off Cleveland
Indians pitcher Andrew Miller in Game 3 of the ALDS, keeping the Yankees season
alive. Bird served as the Yankees final out in Game 7 of the ALCS, ending the
Yankees season just one game shy of the World Series.
Bird underwent ankle surgery in March of 2018 and returned
off the disabled list on May 26, but he never seemed to fully have his legs
under him the rest of that season. Bird struggled once again and saw him
playing time diminish after the Yankees acquired Luke Voit in a trade with the
St. Louis Cardinals. Now, Bird will have to fight for his job back this spring
and either win the job outright, or presumably head back down to Triple-A to
begin the 2019 campaign. Nobody wants that, so let’s put in some work. Good
luck, Greg. I am personally rooting for you and counting on you because I know
a healthy Greg Bird not only makes the offense better in 2019, but it makes the
defense significantly better as well. Get it done!
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Sorry for the Capatcha... Blame the Russians :)