What Can the Yankees Expect from Greg Bird Next Season?

Greg Bird had New York Yankees’ fans excited for the future, but an injury sidelined him for all of 2016. Can the first baseman get back on track and help the team in 2017 and beyond?

Before the youth movement that we’re seeing in the Bronx this season, there was another highly touted prospect that was making noise at the major league level for the New York Yankees. Greg Bird was promoted to the big league club in August of 2015; a move that the club hoped would help inject life into their lineup.

Much has been said about the Yankees farm system over the past few months, but people seem to forget about that Bird is a homegrown talent who is expected to take over at first base next season once Mark Teixeira is officially retired.

As a 22-year-old, Bird did nothing but rake the rest of the season after his call up, giving the Yankees high hopes that he would indeed be the first baseman of the future.

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In 178 plate appearances last season, Bird posted a 137 wRC+, along with 11 home runs and a slash line of .261/.336/.476. Prior to his call up, the Yankees were receiving a lot of calls on the 6’ 3” slugger, but they made it known that they had no interest in moving him.

Unfortunately for Bird and the Yankees, the first baseman underwent surgery in February to repair a torn labrum in his shoulder, which subsequently caused him to miss this entire season. Bird originally hurt the shoulder while playing in Triple-A in 2015, and it continued to bother him all the way up until the surgery. When he first injured it, the doctors preferred to keep him away from surgery, and instead have him rest and rehab it.

The state of the Yankees is much, much different this season compared to last. Alex Rodriguez “retired”, while Carlos Beltran was shipped off to the Texas Rangers at this year’s trade deadline. There was ample playing time to be had for Bird if he were here this season, which makes the injury sting that much more. 

For most of the season, the Yankees were not contending for a playoff spot. They can say they were, but their actions at the trade deadline proved that they were playing for next season. Given the fact that they weren’t in contention, it would have made any growing pains from Bird an easy pill to swallow.

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After all, there’s no reason to believe that he wouldn’t have entered a slump at some point during the season. We’ve seen it happen to Tyler Austin, Aaron Judge, even Gary Sanchez; though Sanchez might be from another planet. Growing pains are a part of baseball, and it’s important to work through them and bounce back, especially at such a young age.

Without Bird on the 2016 roster, the Yankees have had eight different players start at first base. This isn’t a coincidence; the Yankees knew they had their future first baseman, and the baseball gods took him away from them for a full season. With the team now contending, they especially miss Bird’s bat. With him in the lineup, they add another power threat that could help propel them into the postseason.

Now, Bird will have to go through the motions once again before he gets to play with the Yankees. The team is sending him to the Arizona Fall League this year to make sure he gets at-bats before re-joining the club in the spring.

After all, Bird just started taking batting practice again last week. At the end of the month, he is expected to face live pitching for the first time since the injury, and afterwards he will head to the AFL. The team hopes that Bird will return to form when he hits the field again, though it may be a long shot to think that at this point. The most important thing, however, is getting him on the field in the first place.

If Bird isn’t able to stay healthy, or struggles mightily upon his return, the Yankees will have a big problem at first base next year. Tyler Austin has seen time there this season, but it’s not clear that his bat is suited for an everyday role at this point and he’s still pretty rough around the edges defensively in his first year at the position.

Brian McCann could be an option at first base, though it’s not certain yet if the team is going to keep him beyond this season. There has been known interest in the veteran catcher, especially the Atlanta Braves, so it wouldn’t be a shock to see them move him in the offseason. Plus, at $17 million, McCann would not be a cheap option to run out to first.

Shoulder surgery is known to sap the power of many hitters upon their return, at least temporarily. Adrian Gonzalez and Matt Kemp are just two examples of sluggers who saw a serious dip in their power numbers following a similar procedure.

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Without a doubt, the Yankees have their fingers crossed with Bird and his progress. If things go wrong, the team may have to search outside the organization for an answer.