Yankees: Greg Bird is proving all of his doubters wrong

The consensus on Greg Bird a month ago was that he needed to go. He was right below the Mendoza line at a .184 average and had been so ineffective for the Yankees, the game in Boston where he hit two home runs looked more like a bigfoot sighting than a player coming out of a slump.

Bird’s stats stagnated for most of June. He was at the same handful of home runs and lowly 8 RBI’s despite having 100 at-bats. Many were convinced the Yankees needed to clip Bird’s wings and remove him from Yankee Island for good.

It was absolute madness on WFAN sports radio for such a small sample size. Some called for that dreaded DFA tag. Some called for him to be sent down. Others called for a trade.

Brian Cashman and the Yankees organization, the geniuses that they are, stuck to their guns though. They didn’t listen to anybody. Heads – or, in this case, feathers – did not roll.

Their reward is a hot Bird stretch where he is absolutely mauling the ball. In 80 at-bats Bird is hitting .275 with 4 home runs, 18 RBI’s and an OPS of .826. On the season Bird has moved up to a .237 avg. with 9 home runs, 26 RBI’s, and an OPS of .794. It’s a good thing nobody important on the Yankees cared what fans thought of him in June.

Imagine the type of horrible scenario we’d see in the second game of this weekend’s doubleheader if they did. Tyler Austin would be up at-bat against the Kansas City Royals in the 8th inning. The Yankees are down by a run and they desperately need to get on base. Greg Bird is nowhere to be found and that at-bat would probably go the way most of Austin’s at-bats before the Yankees traded him for Lance Lynn on Monday. With an out.

Thankfully we don’t live in the reality where fans make decisions. We live in Cashman’s reality.

More from Yanks Go Yard

• Surprising stat could breed Yankees-Reds deal at 2023 trade deadline
• Is anybody going to sign Aroldis Chapman away from Yankees?
• Diamondbacks outfielder’s comment on Carlos Rodón’s IG raises eyebrows
• Reflecting on the 2013 New York Yankees’ top 10 prospects
• Did Andrew Benintendi contract help Yankees with Ian Happ trade?

In a pivotal at-bat in the 8th inning against the Kansas City Royals after the Yankees lost game one of a day-night doubleheader Bird showed how clutch he was and why he’s so important to this team. He launched with a game-tying blast into the right-center field bullpen which helped catapult the Yanks to a comeback victory in a game they needed to win.

On a smaller scale, the home run had been reminiscent of the late-inning bomb Bird hit against Andrew Miller in the ALDS. And Bird’s slow start, as it turns out, was just that and not an accurate depiction of the kind of player he really is.

Now that Aaron Judge will be out for a few weeks it’s up to guys like Bird to spray the ball all around the field. The lineup’s biggest bat is missing and if they’re going to catch Boston, the Yankees can’t take any at-bats for granted. It seems like Mookie Betts and J.D. Martinez have been locked in all season and they’ve avoided slumping up until this point. Those two are so good, and the Yankees are going to have a small margin of error this weekend which is why they need players like Bird to stay hot and help carry the load.

Bird rising to the occasion like we know he’s capable of could be the difference between the Red Sox taking an even deeper in the AL East race, or the Yankees coming from behind to take back first place.