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.