Greg Bird, the Yankees’ 24-year-old first baseman, was placed on the 10-day disabled list Tuesday because of a right ankle contusion he sustained as spring training drew to a close. With the exception of missing four games shortly after the start of the season, Bird has played through since fouling a ball off his foot to cause the injury. However, his sluggish performance at the plate – a big departure from his sizzling March stats – belied an issue.
Randy Miller reported for NJ.com that manager Joe Girardi said that “in watching (Bird on Monday) and talking to (hitting coach) Alan (Cockrell) about his work, I just didn’t feel like there was a lot of explosion in his lower half.