The first base competition for the New York Yankees was one of the more exciting battles this spring, as both Luke Voit and Greg Bird showed their offensive abilities. In 15 at-bats, Bird has 6 hits, including one homer and four strikeouts. Voit is four-for-13 with two homers and three strikeouts.
The New York Yankees seemingly have two good options at first:
Their production this offseason has been parallel, and despite Bird being the better defensive option, Voit showed more potential during the regular season which has earned him the starting position come late March.
Bird will likely start the season in Triple-A as he continued to fight the negative narrative that has plagued him for the past two years. Two seasons with sub-.200 batting averages and high strikeout rates have nearly dropped him from the team entirely, but having general manager Brian Cashman on your side doesn’t hurt.
The homegrown talent has been plagued with injuries since his inception at the top level. A significant foot injury has impacted his stance in the batter’s box and fundamentals.
Cashman stated in regard to the first base position:
“My gut is we’re not carrying both Bird and Voit on the club.”
“He [Voit] did an amazing job and earned the right to hit in the postseason in the middle of our lineup. It was an incredible story and good for him and I loved the passion and the personality and all that stuff,†Cashman said. “And so there’s no reason to think, including what we’ve seen this spring, that he’s not an everyday guy.â€
Voit’s production has been impressive this spring, but his defense continues to be is Achilles heal despite an improvement. The power hitter ultimately fits perfectly in the Yankees batting order as they have adopted a home run-centric attitude towards their offense.
The only primary issue that comes to mind is the overwhelming amount of right-handed hitters in the order. Bird offers a lefty bat and diversity which is an underrated factor. The Yanks don’t seem to be bothered by this fact and plan to start Voit anyway.
The bottom line, the Yankees will not give up on Bird:
“We feel like we haven’t had a chance to see the real Bird yet because of injuries. Last year he came in a lot leaner, but he put weight back on. He’s a good 25 pounds stronger. And he looks like the potential Bird that we’ve always believed,” Cashman said. “People probably forget turning the clock back that he was the most accomplished hitter in our system (a few years ago). If you asked me who was our best hitter, it was going to come down to between Gary Sanchez or Bird. And then people kind of forget right now because Bird hasn’t been Bird because we think injuries.â€