Yankees: Luke Voit should eventually edge out Greg Bird

The Yankees are just a few games into the season, but Luke Voit is proving to be the superior hitter to Greg Bird.

It’s only the beginning of April and injuries are already piling up for the Yankees. Giancarlo Stanton and Miguel Andujar joined teammates Aaron Hicks and Didi Gregorius on the IL this week, and it looks like the club will be without some of their key players up to a month.

On the bright side, Luke Voit and Greg Bird both posted strong and almost identical numbers in the last few weeks of Spring Training — and with the “next man up” mentality for the Yanks right now, both Voit and Bird should be expected to get plenty of plate appearances in the foreseeable future.

Thankfully, Bird had an impressive spring, as he accumulated 13 hits, eight runs, three home runs, and nine RBIs while hitting .317 in 41 at-bats. The first baseman also had the best OBP (.481) by any Yankee in camp.

Though it was just Spring Training, Bird’s increased batting average and OBP are the numbers that stand out most, but his track record suggests these stats will not hold up during the regular season, as Bird has failed to hit over .200 and had a sub .300 OBP in each of his last two seasons.

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Bird has just three hits on his 15 at-bats to start the 2019 season but was able to display his power on one of those hits, as he launched a solo home run to right field on Opening Day.

Due to the amount of time he has missed in recent seasons from injury, most Yankee fans probably forget that Bird is just 26 years-old. If he can stay healthy, this could be his best opportunity to impress skipper Aaron Boone going forward.

On the other hand, Voit picked up right where he left off in 2018 by producing 13 hits, eight runs, four home runs and 12 RBIs (second-most to Aaron Judge) while hitting .302 during the Grapefruit League.

In his 39 games as a Yankee last season, the 28-year-old racked up 14 home runs, 33 RBIs and hit .333, which over that period, ranked him among the top first basemen in the majors.

After posting starter-worthy numbers at the end of last season, Boone hinted that Voit could eventually be the everyday first basemen, sooner rather than later.

"“Voit should have a leg up on Bird for the first basemen role in 2019,” Boone told SNY back in October. “He certainly came over here and was given that opportunity and took it and kicked the door in.”"

Voit has opened the 2019 campaign by going 3-for-19 with a home run and a team-high five RBI’s through six games.

Voit certainly seems to be the more durable player and will likely be a bit more consistent than Bird, so don’t be surprised when he eventually edges out Bird for the starting first base job, once the Yankees get back to full strength.