Yankees: Greg Bird thinks he will return sometime in May

On Tuesday, the Yankees (5-5) begin a highly anticipated three-game set against the team with the best record in baseball, the Red Sox (8-1).

As the Yankees regroup from Sunday afternoon’s meltdown vs. the Orioles, first baseman Greg Bird spoke to reporters about his recovery from arthroscopic surgery on his right ankle.

On March 27, Bird has a quarter-size calcium deposit removed from the ankle, which bothered him for the entirety of Spring Training.

Bird told Coley Harvey of ESPN that he had hoped the more he played with the pain, the easier it’d become to manage it.

Smartly, Bird realized that staying on the field just for the sake of doing so, would have been a disservice to his teammates and the fans.

How long the 25-year-old left-handed hitter continues to be sidelined remains to be seen, although Bird, believes he’ll rejoin the big league club at some point in May.

“Whether it’s early May starting a rehab, I don’t know exactly,” said Bird, who is recovering from a recent ankle surgery. “And I don’t know how long they’ll be wanting me to rehab [in the minor leagues].”

What we do know is that general manager, Brian Cashman, has insisted that the organization will stand pat with its current stable of first basemen until Bird does make his return.

As of Monday, April 9, the men holding down the fort at first, Tyler Austin and Neil Walker, haven’t exactly set the stage a fire, but in all fairness, aside from Didi Gregorius, which Yankees have?

In eight games and 28 at-bats, the 26-year-old Austin is slashing .250/.323/.536 with two home runs, five RBI and 11 strikeouts (third most on the team).

Having whacked those two long balls in one game versus the Blue Jays, Austin continues to do just enough to stay relevant in his short major league career.

I for one would love to see the Georgia native grab the bull by the horns and make the job his. However, something is still hindering Austin’s overall development.

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Could it be the presence of 10-year vet, Neil Walker?

Following his late arrival to Yankee camp, Walker has been ice-cold at the plate. But with his ability to play a handful of positions well, and much-needed switch-hitting ability — it still seems like $4 million well spent.

Currently hitting .226/.333/.258 with no homers and three RBI, Walker’s 3:5 K:BB ratio is a plus to build off for the time being.

Both Austin and Walker will be expected to pick up the pace beginning on Tuesday when the Yanks face Chris Sale at Fenway Park for the first time this season.

Down performances like we’ve witnessed, though just 10 games into 162, is why the organization continues to hold out hope that Bird lives up to the hype.

He continues to get the benefit of the doubt because of what he did last Postseason, as well as his brief but electric 2015 performance. After a while, though, the past is just that. Everyone involved needs to live a little more in the present should this club expect to right the ship sooner rather than later.

According to manager Aaron Boone, he’s been in constant contact with Dr. Martin O’Malley, who says that Bird is progressing “great” from this recent operation.

Even still, once Bird is cleared to begin baseball activities, we should expect, perhaps as much as a month until he is fit to return to the Bronx.

Next: UNINTERRUPTED chronicles CC Sabathia’s 18th season

By that time, the Yankees’ bats and the bullpen had better figure out what ails them, otherwise, at this rate, the next three games versus Boston will mean more than they should this early into April.