Greg Bird wins Yankees' starting first base job

By Matthew Smith -
After a year-long hiatus, Bird is the word once again in New York. After missing the entire 2016 season due to injury, slugger Greg Bird has been named the Yankees starting first baseman for the 2017 season. 

Photo Credit: AP / Matt Rourke

Bird has exceled this spring, becoming one of only three qualified Yankees with a batting average above .400, posting a phenomenal .432 average with six home runs and 11 RBI thus far this spring. With his stellar play this spring, Bird has solidified his spot in Girardi’s Opening Day lineup. 

Bird became a fan favorite during the 2015 campaign after hitting .261 with 11 home runs and 31 RBI in just 46 games filling in for the injured Mark Teixeira.  Bird was also one of only three Yankees to record a hit in New York’s embarrassing 3-0 loss to the Houston Astros in the 2015 AL Wild Card game.

The announcement came as little surprise to Yankees fans, with Bird entering the spring campaign as the favorite to win the starting first base job, vacated with Teixeira’s retirement after the 2016 season. Bird’s competition included Chris Carter, who led the National League in home runs a year ago.  Carter has hit a meager .118 with one home run thus far this spring, striking out in an alarming 20 of his 37 at-bats, making the decision a no-brainer for the Yankees brass. It also looks as if newly-acquired Matt Holliday and his .308 batting average will become the everyday DH, raising questions about Carter’s role with the squad this season.

The announcement was made late Wednesday morning by manager Joe Girardi, with the news later being confirmed by General Manager Brian Cashman. Cashman had previously stated that he hoped Bird, whom the veteran GM drafted in the fifth round of the 2011 amateur draft, would claim the starting role.  

Since sustaining a labrum tear in his right shoulder last February, many doubted the possibility of a return by Bird in time for Opening Day. The labrum is a piece of fibrocartilage in the shoulder meant to keep the ball of the joint in the socket.  An injury to the labrum greatly inhibits mobility, making it detrimental to baseball players, especially while swinging a bat. Due to his limited experience in Major League Baseball, having played just 47 career games at the major-league level between regular season and postseason play, many questioned Bird's durability, as well as ability to rebound from injury. 

 Bird proved his doubters wrong with a phenomenal spring, both in the field and at the plate, making Girardi’s decision his easiest of the spring. 

Article by Matthew Smith

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Introducing Bronx Bomber Bets: BBBets 9/23

By -
Image
Welcome to our new gambling column at BBB, Bronx Bomber Bets. Here we will be giving out some of our favorite picks of the day and sharing them with our readers. Today, we are giving out 10 picks for all of you, so please enjoy, and bet responsibly. Now, we know that not all of our readers are big gamblers, if they are gamblers at all, so for the first week or so that we give out picks we will be explaining the odds and gambling terminology for anyone out there who is looking to learn about sports betting. Here are our picks:
Read more

Trade Market the Perfect Storm for Yankees to Acquire Starter

By -
Image
 UPDATE D 11/18/15 We’ve all heard it: The Yankees aren’t likely to be big spenders this offseason. Hearing this makes me chuckle as the Yankees have the dollars to field a $500 million pay roll if they wanted to, but their dedication to winning just hasn’t been there since the passing of good ole’ George. Sure little rumors have serviced here or there about them maybe pursuing Zach Greinke who has recently opted out of his contract with the Los Angeles Dodgers, but that move reeks of the move CC Sabathia pulled in opting out of his contract with the Yankees a few years back to simply restructure his contract and make a better payday.   However, instances like CC Sabathia and Masahiro Tanaka are why I believe the Yankees aren’t going to shell out big money and a long term contract for a big name starter this year. There are simply too many factors that could explode in the Pinstripes’ face when giving a long contract to a starter as evidenced by Sabathia’s fall from g...
Read more

Pride, Passion and Pinstripes: The greatest Yankees to ever touch the field

By -
Image
No team in baseball history has a story quite like the Yankees. 27 times they’ve found baseball Nirvana which is 16 more than the next closest team (Cardinals). 40 times have the Yankees won the American League, and that is also a major league record. The franchise won four straight championships from 1936-1939 and five straight from 1949-1953, a task no other team has ever accomplished. With all this sustained success, the team has seen some of the greatest players in league history proudly call the Bronx home. Together the Yankees could field multiple All-Star teams with their collective legends, but in this article, I’m going to try and put together a team of legends that I think would be absolutely unbeatable.   Photo Credit: Creative Commons
Read more