Yankees: Didi Gregorius needs to stay in the three hole instead of Greg Bird

With Greg Bird struggling since his return and Didi Gregorius showing signs of another hot streak, the Yankees and Aaron Boone would be smart to keep Didi in the three hole of the lineup moving forward.

After playing like an MVP candidate in April, May couldn’t have gone any worse for Didi and he was rightfully dropped down in the batting order near the end of the month. The Yankees shortstop went through a 4-67 slump and hit .151 in May after he posted a .330 average with 10 home runs and 30 RBI in April. In the process, his season average dropped all the way down to .241.

The move to drop him to the bottom half of the order made sense at the time especially since the Yankees had Greg Bird ready to return from injury. Just days after his return, Bird was penciled right into Didi’s old spot in the three hole to be the power lefty bat Aaron Boone loves to have in between Aaron Judge and Giancarlo Stanton. Didi was dropped to sixth and seventh.

At the time it seemed like the right move given that Bird was healthy and Didi was struggling so much. However, since the move was made Bird has had a rough time at the plate and Didi seems to have put the worst slump of his career behind him.

In Tuesday night’s win over the Nationals, Didi doubled his home run total for all of May after he hit two home runs in the Yankees 3-0 victory. His first two homers of the month helped raise his average to .286 in June and over the past week he’s hit .300. Bird, on the other hand, has failed to prove he is deserving of hitting up in the order as he’s hit .179 this month and is 3 for his last 22.

Bird has only had 55 at-bats so far this season so I think it’s still too early to talk about replacing him in the lineup, but it’s definitely not too early to think about moving him down in the order. That’s exactly what Boone did on Wednesday night when he opted to move Didi back to the three hole and Bird all the way down to seventh. Bird responded with a home run and a double to quiet his critics for just a day.

Things should stay this way for the time being and even when Bird get’s going, which I think he will, there’s no need to insert him back into the three hole. As long as Didi is swinging the bat well he is the best option to bat third from here on out.

It might have been unfair to Bird, who has barely played over the past three seasons, to put him in that spot of the order so quickly, but it speaks to how high the Yankees are on him and always have been. He proved his worth last October during the team’s playoff run when he was arguably their most consistent hitter, so management clearly expected more of the same this season.

More from Yanks Go Yard

• Yankees top prospects butt heads after Giants’ gritty win over Commanders
• CC Sabathia defends Yankees’ massive Aaron Judge contract
• Scott Boras closed Yankees-Carlos Rodón deal from Fenway Park, put cherry on top
• Orioles are bailing out Yankees and AL East by botching free agency
• 4 blockbuster trade targets that could be Yankees next ‘big’ move

The sample sizes have been small since Bird arrived back in 2015, but when he’s been healthy he has shown he could be a force at the plate, especially at Yankee Stadium. Like I said, Bird still deserves more time to snap out of his early-season struggles because when he’s going well he’s the best first basemen on the Yankees roster.

That could change if Brandon Drury ever gets called back up to possibly play first base, but still, Yankee fans could have a little more patience with Bird.

Just keep him down near the bottom of the order and see if it helps ease some pressure off of him the same way it did for Gleyber Torres and Miguel Andujar. Granted those two are younger, but Bird is still only 25-years old and still hasn’t played a full big league season or really ever batted third consistently at this level.

I’ll admit myself I thought he could handle it in this stacked Yankees lineup, but to this point, it hasn’t worked out. Therefore, it can’t hurt to see how he responds to hitting sixth or seventh just as Didi did when he was slumping. Based on Wednesday night he’s off to a good start.

Next: Yankees bullpen has regained its dominance

Bird’s average may never be among the best on the team, but the power is going to come as long as he can stay healthy. That’s obviously a big if with him, but when he finds his stroke it will add another dimension to what is already the best bottom of the order in baseball.