I've read more negative articles on Bird than positive ones in the last week. In fact, I don't think I've found a positive one at all.
After killing the ball and looking Ruthian throughout Spring Exhibition ball, he has flipped the coin and sucked. He was 6-for-60 in 19 games for the Yankees before being shut down. That's a BA of .100 - literally one half of the Mendoza line.
Now he's been through rehab and started through the minors to shake off the rust. He did okay in 6 games in High-A Florida State League games, but since moving up to S-W in AAA ball, he is right where he was in the regular season with the big club - striking out and looking lost.
Something is amiss with Bird. He has that sweet Olerud-like swing that is perfect for the Stadium's short right porch. When he was seeing the ball in Spring, he made HR's look easy and was a feared hitter. Now, that's water over the dam.
My assessment: coaches using computer assessments and various analytics programs have found a hole in his swing and virtually every team from AAA to the bigs know what it is and are exploiting it. I could be wrong, but that's the only thing that makes sense to me. Maybe he needs glasses and can't pick up the spin on a curve ball until it's too late. Or maybe pitchers discovered he's a sucker for a low-slider and that's all he sees now.
Seriously, I do not know. But I wish the hell the coaches would fix his problems and bring back the Bird we were expecting. Being a strike out machine and having a BA below the combined BA of American League pitchers is not good.
Anyone else think they have it figured out?
Is it rust from sitting out all of last year ?
I suppose. After last night when he went 0-3, it just disheartens me and Girardi states he's unwilling to bring him back up until he figures it out if he can. That's saying something considering who they are playing at first these days. Holliday seems comfortable at first, but no way any of the replacements have Bird's glove.
I know that confidence has a lot to do with batting, but there are so many little nuances in a swing that can change that are hard to notice and difficult to figure out why the results all changed. I'm just hoping he gets it all figured out and returns to the form he should have. We really need his glove back in the game for the parent team.
I would note that BA, especially in extremely small sample sizes (such as the 21 ABs in the 6 games Bird has had in AAA) are often misleading- have one really good game or 2 bad ones, and the number bounce around by hundreds of points.
Instead, look deeper at the numbers. Looking closer, we see that in those 6 games, Bird has walked 7 times and K'd 3 times. That also gives him an OBP of .357- quite good actually. He has only 2 extra base hits- 2 doubles, but in a small sample size, we cannot draw much from that.
What these number indicate is that Bird isn't "lost" as the original poster claimed. If that was the case, we would see quite a few more K's and low walk totals.
What the numbers appear to indicate is that Bird is recognizing balls and strikes- which indicates that he is seeing the ball well and tracking the pitches correctly, but he has not regained his timing. Has has been out of game action for about a month or so.
Note that in the 60 ABs he got with the Yanks earlier, he had 22 K's and 10 walks. THAT indicates a lost hitter at that point. The numbers tell a different story now- he just needs time and more ABs.
Remember that the pitchers in AAA are now nearing mid-season form- while he is essentially starting spring training over again. He will probably spend a week or two more trying to find his timing- but I think that based on what we saw in spring training, it will come.
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let him work through it. He's too talented to give up on him because he had an injury and a prolonged slump.
I would note that BA, especially in extremely small sample sizes (such as the 21 ABs in the 6 games Bird has had in AAA) are often misleading- have one really good game or 2 bad ones, and the number bounce around by hundreds of points.
Instead, look deeper at the numbers. Looking closer, we see that in those 6 games, Bird has walked 7 times and K'd 3 times. That also gives him an OBP of .357- quite good actually. He has only 2 extra base hits- 2 doubles, but in a small sample size, we cannot draw much from that.
What these number indicate is that Bird isn't "lost" as the original poster claimed. If that was the case, we would see quite a few more K's and low walk totals.
What the numbers appear to indicate is that Bird is recognizing balls and strikes- which indicates that he is seeing the ball well and tracking the pitches correctly, but he has not regained his timing. Has has been out of game action for about a month or so.
Note that in the 60 ABs he got with the Yanks earlier, he had 22 K's and 10 walks. THAT indicates a lost hitter at that point. The numbers tell a different story now- he just needs time and more ABs.
Remember that the pitchers in AAA are now nearing mid-season form- while he is essentially starting spring training over again. He will probably spend a week or two more trying to find his timing- but I think that based on what we saw in spring training, it will come.
Thanks rich in DC. Great post.
At some point , they will need the first baseman to provide some semblance of reliable offense. The Angels have slowed them down. So I hope he gets back on track .
Not "feeling right" is pretty vague, and maybe they're just being safe by having him checked out again, but who knows.
lonk - ( New Window )
6:27pm ET: Greg Bird‘s rehab has hit a snag. Brian Cashman told Erik Boland that Bird still doesn’t feel well, so they have “pulled the plug” on his rehab. The issue is still with his ankle, not his surgically repaired shoulder. Bird has been out since early May with a bone bruise in the ankle, an injury he originally suffered in the final week of Spring Training. He fouled a pitch off the ankle and tried to play through it in April.
Bird has been on a minor league rehab assignment the last two weeks, going 9-for-38 (.237) with 12 walks and four strikeouts in 12 games. The numbers don’t mean much though. How does he feel? How does his swing look? Does his have his lower half working right? Those are the important questions, and no, apparently he doesn’t feel good.
Joe Girardi said earlier today Bird will see a doctor, and hopefully that brings good news. Maybe it is nothing more than normal “hey you’re playing baseball everyday again” soreness. It’s not easy to be optimistic though. The Yankees have a pretty terrible history with bone bruises (see: Teixeira, Mark) and Bird himself has had plenty of injury issues in his career, even going back to his days in the minors.
Unless the doctor visit brings good news, the Yankees are going to have to start thinking about trading for a new first baseman. Chris Carter has worn out his welcome and Tyler Austin probably isn’t good enough to start at first base for a contender. Playing Matt Holliday there full-time doesn’t seem like a good idea at his age either.
6:27pm ET: Greg Bird‘s rehab has hit a snag. Brian Cashman told Erik Boland that Bird still doesn’t feel well, so they have “pulled the plug” on his rehab. The issue is still with his ankle, not his surgically repaired shoulder. Bird has been out since early May with a bone bruise in the ankle, an injury he originally suffered in the final week of Spring Training. He fouled a pitch off the ankle and tried to play through it in April.
Bird has been on a minor league rehab assignment the last two weeks, going 9-for-38 (.237) with 12 walks and four strikeouts in 12 games. The numbers don’t mean much though. How does he feel? How does his swing look? Does his have his lower half working right? Those are the important questions, and no, apparently he doesn’t feel good.
Joe Girardi said earlier today Bird will see a doctor, and hopefully that brings good news. Maybe it is nothing more than normal “hey you’re playing baseball everyday again” soreness. It’s not easy to be optimistic though. The Yankees have a pretty terrible history with bone bruises (see: Teixeira, Mark) and Bird himself has had plenty of injury issues in his career, even going back to his days in the minors.
Unless the doctor visit brings good news, the Yankees are going to have to start thinking about trading for a new first baseman. Chris Carter has worn out his welcome and Tyler Austin probably isn’t good enough to start at first base for a contender. Playing Matt Holliday there full-time doesn’t seem like a good idea at his age either.
Fucked over by the pre-season. It's a professional sport-wide problem!
Last year there were many thinking Judge was not the goods because he was a strike out king. It was not so many tears back when Sanchez was struggling in the minors and people talked about packaging him out of town.
Sometimes patience pays off and I think Greg Bird is the goods.
But the reason many of us believe in him is that he has a good resume in MiLB, and it's not just the numbers. Most of us won't forget that at a time when the Yankees had Sanchez and Judge swinging the bats well (among others) that Cashman said Bird was probably the best bat in the system. His issue will be getting healthy and the question is can he stay healthy.
I have no doubts he can hit in the majors if he can get healthy again.
But the reason many of us believe in him is that he has a good resume in MiLB, and it's not just the numbers. Most of us won't forget that at a time when the Yankees had Sanchez and Judge swinging the bats well (among others) that Cashman said Bird was probably the best bat in the system. His issue will be getting healthy and the question is can he stay healthy.
I have no doubts he can hit in the majors if he can get healthy again.
Maybe you forgot about 2015? When Bird hit 11 HR in 2 months with a decent BA and OBP? That was impressive- maybe you think that 2017 was his only major league experience?
No, Bird's resume in the majors might be more impressive than his minor league time- as he showed more power in the majors (2015 and 2017 spring training) than he ever showed in the minors. His OBP track record is good throughout
His issue has been health. He get injured- a lot.
No, Bird's resume in the majors might be more impressive than his minor league time- as he showed more power in the majors (2015 and 2017 spring training) than he ever showed in the minors. His OBP track record is good throughout
His issue has been health. He get injured- a lot.
Not forgetting 2015, just acknowledging the other poster's point. It's a very limited sample at MLB and on its own could easily be discounted. It's who he is, and what he's done throughout his time with the Yankees that has us excited. The previous poster seemed to be only focusing on the limited sample.
If we believe his opinion on Sanchez and Judge, then no reason to not think Bird will produce, when healthy, as well.