Jake Bird's early resurgence has Yankees fans happily ready to eat crow

Perhaps no one had been written off faster by New York Yankees fans than Jake Bird. To be fair, he kind of deserved it. In just two innings of work after being acquired from the Colorado Rockies at last year's trade deadline, he managed to subtract 0.2 fWAR from the team and was banished to Scranton, never to be heard from again in 2025.

In the lead-up to spring training, Bird got a vote of confidence from Matt Blake, but it was fair to be skeptical as to whether or not the righty had truly turned over a new leaf. After all, he had a 4.73 ERA with the Rockies before the deadline deal, and had never posted an ERA under 4.33 in any single season. He seemed like a middling middle reliever, at best.

So far this season, though, he's been a revelation. Logging 3 1/3 innings over his first three appearances, the 30-year-old has yet to allow a run and has only surrendered one hit to go alongside zero walks. With that, his stuff has looked fantastic as well.

Jake Bird and the Yankees' bullpen might be better than fans expected in 2026

At first blush, it seemed that Brian Cashman targeted Bird last year for the amount of team control he had remaining rather than any particular talent. Bird doesn't hit free agency until after the 2028 season, and like Camilo Doval and David Bednar, he wasn't a rental like some of the other high-end bullpen pieces on the market were at the time. Cashman, of course, has a history of favoring team control over actual production, especially when it comes to his relievers.

Bird didn't get off to the best start in spring training, but he did right the ship and started to impress before the warmup period came to a close.

His fastball looks to have renewed life this year and is playing well up in the zone, while his sinker has been a real worm burner, helping him generate a 75% ground ball rate on the young season.

To an extent, this shouldn't be as surprising as it seems. There were rumblings that Bird was dealing with arm fatigue by the time he made his way to the Bronx, and the numbers back that up. By June 30 last year, Bird had thrown 47 innings, the second-most among all MLB relievers, and had a superb 2.68 ERA.

That means he might not have truly been as bad as he seemed, but it also means that New York would be wise to watch his workload as the season progresses.

Bird was just one part of the biggest concern the Yankees faced coming into the season. The bullpen as a whole was seen as filled with question marks, but, alongside Bird, the unit has answered the bell and then some in the early going.

Through their first collective 18 innings pitched, Yankees relievers own a 0.53 ERA, which is the second-best mark in the majors. A big reason why has been a healthy 63.6% ground ball rate and a healthy 7.6% walk rate.

Those two things have been bugaboos in the past for Bird. His best weapon is typically his sinker, but when he's not in control he walks an inordinate number of batters and gives up too many long balls. That will be something to watch as the season unfolds.

We don't want to get too high too fast. It's early, sample sizes are small, and relievers are the most volatile players in the game. But the fact of the matter is Bird and the rest of the 'pen have been great so far, and we're hoping that they can sustain it.