Bird gets injection, surgery possible
BOSTON — On the day the Yankees lost Michael Pineda, the staff leader in wins to a partially torn ulnar collateral ligament in the right elbow, general manager Brian Cashman sounded like a person who doesn’t expect to see first baseman Greg Bird anytime soon and neither does manager Joe Girardi.
Though Cashman hopes Garrett Cooper, who was acquired Thursday from the Brewers for Tyler Webb, can help at first base he admitted “the bar is pretty low’’ at the position.
Bird saw Dr. Robert Anderson in Charlotte, N.C. and on June 20 received a cortisone shot in the right ankle that had been bothering the first baseman since the last week of spring training. This past Monday, Bird was examined by Dr. Martin O’Malley at the Hospital for Special Surgery and received a Novocaine injection Thursday.
“Anderson speculated that he might have inflammation over the area Os Trigonum. Thirty percent of the population has this excess bone growth in their feet and Greg Bird possesses that,’’ Cashman said of an issue that surfaces with ballerinas. “Dr. Anderson speculated that this is the area that got irritated. He speculated that potentially is the area of con- cern. The conservative treatment is hit it with cortisone and see if it responds. If it doesn’t then a surgical intervention removing the bone would be the final result.’’
According to Bird, who hasn’t played in a big league game since May 1 after missing all of 2016 due to shoulder surgery, the cortisone shot didn’t work.
“Dr. O’Malley also speculated that this makes the most sense. His perspective was hitting that area with Novocaine and see if he can hit. If he has no problems whatsoever after that Novocaine injection, that from his perspective, would determine the Os Trigonum would be the area of the problem,’’ Cashman said.
According to Cashman, Bird, who has been taking batting practice with the Staten Island team, felt completely better following the Novocaine shot. That confirmed Os Trigonum was the area of issue and Cashman said the next course of action is another cortisone shot to get through the season or surgically remove it, which would require a sixto eight-week recovery time. Bird’s next doctor appointment is Monday with O’Malley.
“He has had one cortisone shot that failed to resolve, so I still think a surgical situa- tion is a real possibility,’’ Cashman said of Bird, who is hitting .100 (6-for-60) with a homer and three RBIs in 19 games.
Asked what his take on Bird playing again this year is, Girardi had no definitive answer.
“I don’t know what to expect,’’ Girardi said of Bird, who batted third on Opening Day and was expected to be a big contributor. “I don’t think there is any guarantee and that is why Brian went out and made the trade.’’
As for Cooper, he was 0for-4 with three strikeouts in a 5-4 loss to the Red Sox on Friday at Fenway Park. The Yankees now trail Boston by 4 ½ games in the AL East. It was Cooper’s major league debut.