Coming off the heels of a tumultuous week/weekend within the Yankees organization, which saw Tyler Austin go down for six weeks with a broken foot and Yankees president Randy Levine criticizing all-star reliever Dellin Betances and his agents, some positives still emerged.
Much had been speculated about former top prospect, Greg Bird, with the emergence of Austin and the recent signing of former Milwaukee Brewers first baseman Chris Carter. Recovering from shoulder surgery that cost him all of 2016, the Yankees have had to remain patient with Bird to follow up on his 2015 success.
In only 46 games in ’15, Bird hit .261 with 11 home runs and 31 RBI. Bird continued his rehab in the Arizona Fall League last fall as he tried to shake off the rust from missing an entire season.
While concern still remains in the back of the minds of Yankees fans, Joe Girardi eased some of that last week when speaking to Yankees beat reporter Bryan Hoch.
According to Hoch, “Girardi and general manager Brian Cashman had a front-row view of Greg Bird’s batting practice round, and Girardi said that he is pleased by the life in Bird’s bat.”
“I feel pretty good about where he’s at. He looks really good,” Girardi said. “The fact that he was able to play last year [in the Arizona Fall League] encourages me. I didn’t really see him throw today so that’s something I will look at, but he looked fine to me.”
To further emphasize the progress Bird is making gearing up for the 2017 campaign, the YES Network tweeted a home run Bird hit Monday morning in a simulated game down in Tampa.
Greg Bird goes deep during a sim game.#YANKSonYESpic.twitter.com/VpAQHG2FQd
— YES Network (@YESNetwork) February 20, 2017
A year removed from the Yankees struggling to secure any consistent production at the first base position, with a healthy Bird and the reigning N.L. home run king serving as a backup, the Yankees are looking to reverse that trend in 2017.
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