Yankees: The Greg Bird Comparisons Have Begun

The comparisons to Yankees first baseman Greg Bird are already flying in. And while some have merit, there is one current player, in particular, I liken him too.

George A. King III of the New York Post writes that on Monday, following the Yankees 13-1 loss to the Pirates, manager Joe Girardi was asked to compare 24-year-old Greg Bird to another sweet-swinging lefty.

“I am sure there are plenty of people you can compare him too,” said Girardi.

Media members in attendance offered former first basemen John Olerud and Mark Grace — to which Girardi replied, “Yeah, thank you.” High praise, indeed. Personally, I see a lot of the same offensive ability in Royals first baseman Eric Hosmer than anyone else, but I’ll let you be the judge.

Before we get into offensive capabilities, I’ll just throw it out there that Bird isn’t anywhere near the defender Olerud or Grace were, or Hosmer is. During Grace’s 16-year career he won four Gold Glove Awards. In 17 seasons, Olerud won three Gold Gloves. And having only recently completed his sixth MLB season, Hosmer already has three to his name.

Though Bird’s footwork is getting better around the bag, and last season’s shoulder surgery has already added extra velocity to his throwing arm, no one is going to mistake him for Mark Teixeira anytime soon.

Taking a deeper look at the three accomplished first baseman, their career numbers look like this:

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Olerud: .295/.398/.465, 255 HR, 1230 RBI, 2239 hits — never striking out more than 96 times in a season. Olerud’s career 162-game average breaks down to a .295 BA, 18 HR, 89 RBI, 74 K, and 92 walks.

Grace: .303/.383/.442, 173 HR, 1146 RBI, 2445 hits — never striking out more than 56 times in a season. Grace’s career 162-game average breaks down to a .303 BA, 12 HR, 83 RBI, 46 K, and 78 walks.

Hosmer: .277/.335/.438, 102 HR, 472 RBI, 940 hits — never striking out less than 82 times in a season. Hosmer’s career 162-game average breaks down to a .277 BA, 19 HR, 86 RBI, 112 K, and 54 walks.

As far is Olerud is concerned, most people forget just how good he was because he spent most of his career in Toronto and Seattle. Those were the days before social media and MLB.tv. It wasn’t until Olerud went to the Mets for three seasons (1997-1999) that most of the country came to appreciate his all-around game.

Grace has always been beloved by Cubs fans. His impressive slash line is enough to understand why. Grace’s ability to work the count and foul off pitch after pitch was a thing of beauty, hence the low strikeout totals.

Hosmer is only now entering his physical peak. At 27, coming off a 25 home run, 104 RBI season in 2015, Hosmer is primed for a monster campaign, especially since he’s entering his walk year.

Bird has been one of the Yankees’ most impressive sluggers this spring, going 6-16 (.375 BA), with three home runs and five RBI. For the time being, he has silenced critics who cast doubt he’d return to his 2015 form.

Since we really only have a small sample size for comparison, I look at the way Hosmer and Bird each approach an at-bat. Both have a slight bend in the knees, keep their hands back in the zone, and possess a quick trigger with almost no leg kick. Their bat heads explode through the zone, generating a ton of torque via their hips that lend itself to increased power numbers.

Both men are similar in stature — Hosmer is 6’4″ 225lb — Bird is 6’4″ 220lb. Both struggle against left-handed pitching — Hosmer batted .233 with eight home runs and 44 RBI versus lefties last season. Bird’s .238 effort with two homers against southpaws in ’15 was enough for the Yankees to sign Chris Carter this offseason. But the presence of Bird and Hosmer in their respective lineups makes their club’s chances of winning that much better.

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Bird isn’t the type of player Hosmer is… yet, but he has all the tools to become so. Taking into account Bird’s 11 home runs in 46 games in 2015, and what he’s accomplished so far this spring, I’m willing to go out on a limb and predict Hosmer-esque numbers for Bird this season — a .275 batting average with 25 home runs and 88 RBI.