One-time top Yankees prospect Greg Bird could be the answer to the Jays’ need for a big left-handed bat

By: Mike Wilner - Baseball Columnist, Toronto Star Posted: 5:27 PM CDT Tuesday, Mar. 22, 2022 Last Modified: 5:30 PM CDT Tuesday, Mar. 22, 2022

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DUNEDIN, Fla.—They came off the board in a flurry of activity last week.

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DUNEDIN, Fla.—They came off the board in a flurry of activity last week.

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This article was published 22/03/2022 (1629 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

DUNEDIN, Fla.—They came off the board in a flurry of activity last week.

Kyle Schwarber to the Phillies. Joc Pederson to the Giants. Brad Miller to the Rangers. Corey Dickerson to the Cardinals.

All left-handed sluggers, every one of them a Blue Jays’ target, and when the music stopped, not a single one wound up in Toronto.

Steve Helber - AP
Finally healthy, Greg Bird has had quite the first week with spring training with the Jays, reaching base in eight of his 11 plate appearances. — Steve Helber - AP Finally healthy, Greg Bird has had quite the first week with spring training with the Jays, reaching base in eight of his 11 plate appearances.

Despite the fearsomeness of the Jays’ big, scary bats, the lineup does lean a little too far to the right. Cavan Biggio is the only regular starter who swings from the left side, an imbalance that could make life a little bit easier for opposing right-handed pitchers, and will definitely give opposing managers a leg up on game-planning their bullpen.

The Jays don’t absolutely have to find a left-handed hitter to wedge somewhere in the middle of the batting order, but one would sure help.

Enter Greg Bird.

“He was one of those under-the-radar signings where you go ‘Oh, OK. That’s interesting,’” said bench coach John Schneider of the one-time top Yankee prospect whose very-promising career has been knocked badly off-track by a procession of injuries.

Bird reached the big leagues for the first time in late 2015 and didn’t look out of place at all, slugging 11 home runs in just 46 games while putting up a .261/.343/.529 slash line. Then shoulder surgery cost him the entire 2016 season.

In 2017, a right foot injury limited him to 48 games. The next year, he came out of a Grapefruit League game against the Blue Jays because of bone spurs in his right ankle and missed the first two months of the season. In 2019, it was plantar fasciitis, this time in his left foot, that limited him to just ten games. He hasn’t played in the majors since.

“It’s been a process,” said Bird, with more than a hint of world-weariness in his response.

Aaron Boone took over as Yankees’ manager in 2019, so he never got a chance to have a healthy Bird on his team, but he knows what his one-time charge can do.

“Even before I got here,” said Boone, “he was a part of that (Aaron) Judge, Bird, (Gary) Sanchez (prospect group) and Bird might have been the headliner. This is a guy with a ton of offensive talent.”

If he could stay on the field.

“He just got derailed, every time he got going, by another injury,” recalled Boone. “The foot, I think, sapped some of his potential because even when he was right it was a nagging thing for him. He’s a guy who really knows the strike zone and has great pull power. For him, it’s about being healthy.”

The still-only-29-year-old finally made it through a season in one piece last year, getting 461 plate appearances for the Colorado Rockies’ AAA affiliate in Albuquerque. In a fantastic hitting environment in New Mexico, Bird hit .267/.362/.532 with 27 home runs, but the numbers weren’t the thing.

“My main goal last year was to play,” said Bird, and you can’t blame him after getting into only 180 games at any level over the previous four seasons combined.

“Just having that experience again gave me an idea of what I needed to work on,” Bird continued. “I needed to get stronger again.”

Which he feels as though he was able to do.

“I’m really happy with where I’m at (physically),” said Bird. “I’m in a better spot than I’ve been in a while, which is exciting. Having that experience of playing last year (then) a normal off-season getting to work on things and get my body in the right place and really get after it…”

Bird paused, and sighed.

“It’s been a long time coming.”

The Tennessee-born, Colorado-raised first baseman signed a minor-league deal with the Jays two weeks ago, and has hit the ground running here on the gulf coast of Florida.

Bird doubled in his first game, homered in the next, and reached base three times in Lakeland against the Tigers on Monday with a pair of singles and a walk. He has walked a total of four times to go with those four hits, in just 11 plate appearances, giving him a silly on-base percentage of .727 in this first week of spring.

“So far, so good,” said manager Charlie Montoyo, “He’s looking good. There’s a track record with him, you know? He was really good and then he got hurt, and then he had a really good year last year in AAA. He’s competing for a job.”

Bird is going to see a lot of action in the final fortnight of the Grapefruit League season, and if he can stay healthy and keep producing, he should not only win that job but also get a ton of at-bats in the DH spot with occasional starts at first base.

Could be that as all those big sticks came off the board in free agency, the Jays had the right lefty here in camp all along.

Mike Wilner is a Toronto-based baseball columnist for the Star and host of the baseball podcast “Deep Left Field.” Follow him on Twitter: @wilnerness