Yankees: Hope for the best, expect the worst with Greg Bird’s sore foot

With only five days until Opening Day, yesterday was deja vu all over again for Yankees first basemen Greg Bird after he was scratched from the lineup because of a sore right foot.

Bird reported soreness during batting practice before a matchup with the Braves and following his late scratch he underwent an MRI which revealed inflammation in his right foot. The Yankees announced he would head back north to New York to be evaluated by a foot specialist on Monday.

If you remember it was almost a year ago last spring when on March 30th he fouled a ball off his right ankle just three days before the Yankees opened the season. That injury contributed to a terrible April for Bird and eventually sidelined and limited him to only 48 games the entire season.

Considering the soreness is in the same area as last season’s injury there is obviously concern throughout the organization. The Yankees were expecting big things from a healthy Bird this year and now the chances of that might be in serious jeopardy.

Here’s what GM Brian Cashman had to say about the news per Bryan Hoch of MLB.com:

“I’m worried about it, to be honest. I’m not sure what we’re dealing with, but when Greg can’t tee it up, it’s a problem for us because obviously he’s a vital member of our organization. We’re deep and we have other people who can pick up the slack, so hopefully it won’t be long.”

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Over the next 24 hours the Yankees will hope and pray that the injury is nothing more than what the MRI revealed, but given Bird’s injury history, they should expect the worst. Since debuting back in 2015 Bird simply hasn’t been able to stay on the field.

He missed the 114 games last season and in 2016 he didn’t play at all because of a torn labrum. When he has been on the field and fully healthy Bird has shown the ability to play at a high level in the early stages of his career. However, it hasn’t happened nearly enough.

If this is another long-term injury for Bird the Yankees can feel better about replacing him then they did a season ago because of the depth they have. After a strong spring showing, Tyler Austin would likely be the first man up to get a crack at the job with the versatile Neil Walker also in the mix. Another option down the road could be Miguel Andujar after Brian Cashman announced he would play 20 percent of his games with Scranton Wilkes-Barre at first base.

No matter who ends up replacing Bird in the event of an extended absence this is the last thing you want less than a week away from Opening Day. He was supposed to be a very important piece in this year’s lineup and finally provide the team with some stability at first base. Sure the Yankees can still contend without him but this is a big blow that could prevent them from reaching their full potential as a team.

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Even if the news is more promising than we’d expect it’s more probable than not that Bird will start the season on the DL and miss the opening series in Toronto. It would be just another hurdle for him to overcome and another sign that maybe the Yankees can no longer rely on him to be their first basemen of the future.

I think I speak for most Yankees fan when I say I hope that’s not the case, however, this just might be who Greg Bird is. A player with all the talent to be a star in this game, but one whose body simply won’t allow him to do so.