Bird not afraid to fight for job
TAMPA — Greg Bird is accustomed to seeing a big name at first base since coming up through the Yankees organization as a first baseman.
“The last two camps I came into there was a guy playing my position,” Bird said of Mark Teixeira, who was blocking Bird’s path to the majors before he retired at the end of last season.
“I have to earn it,” Bird said of a starting spot. “I think you always have to earn it. Coming into 2015, my goal was to make the team. Obviously, [Teixeira] was there, but my mentality was to make the team and do my job and show them what I have and that will be [my approach] this spring.”
Though the Yankees still plan on having Bird as their first baseman this season, it also seems fair to say he has less margin for error now that they’ve reached a deal with free agent Chris Carter.
If Bird is feeling any added pressure with the 30-year-old Carter set to become a Yankee, he didn’t show it Wednesday after working out at the team’s minor league complex.
“I think we’re happy to have him, honestly,” Bird said of Carter, who was the co-leader in the National League with 41 home runs last season. “It’s another big bat and a good bat. I think he can bring a lot to the table. … I’m excited to meet him.”
As of now, the lefty-swinging Bird — who missed all of last season after undergoing right shoulder surgery prior to spring training — is expected to get the bulk of the playing time at f i rs t . Carter, a righthanded bat, could play against some lefties. And he might also be called upon to do even more than that if Bird struggles in his return from his injury.
Bird said his shoulder felt “great,” but acknowledged questions will remain until he shows his swing has returned. He didn’t overwhelm at the plate and didn’t play first base during his time in the Arizona Fall League.
He added he is able to throw to second — the last hurdle to get back to health — but until he puts the power he showed in 2015 on display again, it will be impossible to say Bird is all the way back.
Even before the Yankees landed Carter, Bird figured to get some competition from Tyler Austin — though it now appears Austin might be left without a seat at the table.
Bird insisted he understood the need for competition at first.
“I missed a whole year,” Bird said. “I have to prove to them that I can play again and play at a high level and be a quality part of the team.”
Bird smacked 11 homers in 178 plate appearances after being called up in 2015. In his return to the field in the Arizona Fall League last season, he homered just once in 65 atbats.
The Yankees will find out soon if the drop-off in power is a cause for concern, since Bird — now 24 — is being counted upon to be an integral part of a youth movement the Yankees would like to see take off this season.
Bird will take the lofty expectations over what he went through in 2016.
Asked to describe the last year, Bird said, “I would say long. It was 12 months, but it felt like two years. It was a long time, but this is what I was preparing for. I’m excited to get back to playing, get back into a baseball atmosphere.”