Yankees: The reason Greg Bird is finally starting to produce

Nobody in the Yankees lineup has faced more criticism over the past two months than first basemen Greg Bird. Bird has been hyped up for years as the next big slugger in the Yankees lineup but upon his return from injury in late May he really struggled.

I’ve always been a big Bird supporter (and still am), but when he batted .184 in June even I thought it might be time to give somebody like Brandon Drury a shot to get more reps at first base. Bird just wasn’t giving the Yankees offense anything. The Bird who burst onto the scene back in 2015 and the Bird who was arguably the team’s most consistent hitter during last year’s playoff run had seemingly disappeared.

Despite his struggles, manager Aaron Boone stuck with Bird in the lineup believing that his talent and potential would eventually lead to results. Fast forward to today and the organization’s faith in Bird is finally paying off. Over his last seven games, he’s been much more consistent hitting .333, and his power numbers make you believe that even more production is still to come. He has 11 RBI during the span and over his last four games, he has two home runs.

During the Orioles series, both of his home runs came in huge spots. On Tuesday it was a three-run bomb he hit onto Eutaw Street that gave the Yankees a 3-2 lead and on Wednesday he hit his first career grand slam to give the team a 5-0 advantage. In Thursday’s big win over the Indians Bird just missed a three-run home run off reigning Al Cy Young winner Corey Kluber, but had to settle for an RBI double off the top of the right-center field wall.

Clearly, Bird is feeling more comfortable at the plate and the results have followed in large part because he’s hitting the ball in the air much more.

The tweet above from James Smyth of the YES Network shows how Bird was struggling to get the ball in the air after he returned from his injury in late May. He was rolling over a lot of balls which produced weak grounders to the right side and he was fouling off the type of pitches he usually drives. His timing looked off and pitchers were challenging him with a lot of fastballs up in the zone.

Lately, Bird has been on everything and the quality of his at-bats have been very strong. His plate discipline has always been there even when he’s struggled but now he’s not missing his pitch and when he gets a mistake he’s getting his barrel to the ball.

A 63% flyball rate is a very encouraging sign for a player like Bird because he’s a guy who impacts the game with his power. He’s not a fast runner and most of his groundballs are to the right side so anything he’s not hitting on a line or in the air is likely going to be an out.

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Bird’s increased production has come at a perfect time as his production has helped make up for the absences of Gleyber Torres and Gary Sanchez who both should be back after the All-Star break. Welcoming them back to a lineup that now has Bird hitting his stride gives the Yankees an offense that really has no holes in the lineup 1-9. If he can stay and Sanchez can bounce back they can truly be unstoppable during the second half of the season.

You have to give some credit to the Yankees and Boone for sticking with Bird knowing that he would eventually turn things around. Winning at the rate they have has allowed them to stick with him but they also knew that the payoff would be worth it if he did find a way to produce at the level they know he’s capable of producing at.

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It’s certainly paying off right now and there’s potential for even more once the Yankees return home where Bird can take advantage of that short porch in right field. That’s where he can really unleash that lefty power stroke and put an end to all the talk about benching him or sending him down for good.