A little more than one month ago, Greg Bird returned to the Yankees after having his second ankle surgery in as many years. Tyler Austin and Neil Walker did okay enough at first base in the interim. Although the Yankees weren’t having trouble scoring runs without him, adding Bird’s lefty power bat to the righty heavy lineup really helps balance things out.
Twenty games into his 2018 season, Bird is hitting .211/.300/.451 (104 wRC+) overall with three home runs, and things have been much better of late. Including the completion of the suspended game, he’s gone 6-for-20 (.