Only playing in ten games with the New York Yankees during the 2019 season, Greg Bird pretty much missed the entire year with a foot injury. An original placement on the 10-day injured list turned into a season-ending injury.
Even though Bird has a history of constant injuries, he decided to play winter ball this offseason. He only played about a week, however, just to see if he fully recovered from his left plantar fascia tear. He was hoping that his play could hint to the Yankees what his role would be for next season.
Even though he finished his week down in the Dominican Republic healthy, he didn’t put up great numbers. He batted .125 with three singles with six walks while fanning eight times in 24 at-bats. To Bird’s defense, it’s not expected that a guy who just came off a season-ending injury to be putting up great numbers during rehab games.
Can Bird make a comeback during the 2020 season?
He’s only appeared in 92 games the last two seasons and 140 games during the last three seasons with the New York Yankees. This is mostly because of his constant injuries setting hin back.
Here’s my thought on Greg Bird: the guy has some real talent. A lot of fans will get on him but he does have a strong lefty swing and can play defense just as good as anyone else in the major leagues. In his professional career with the Yankees, he holds a .998 fielding percentage at first base (Baseball-Reference).
Even though I believe Bird has talent and can produce at the Major League level, I don’t think he’ll find himself in a primary role next season. It’s hard to put a guy who consistently gets hurt into a big role on the team.
With that being said, Bird should be considered as a DH for the team. The Yankees lack strong left-handed power hitters and that’s exactly what Bird is.