Greg Bird, The Man Made of Glass, Will Have Surgery On His Broken Ankle And Miss 6-8 Weeks
OF COURSE
Nick Johnson 2.0. It’s hard to believe at this point how fragile this man is. The moment it was reported over the weekend he was scratched from the lineup I knew immediately it was his foot. The moment they said it was just inflammation in his foot I knew it was something worse. It always is with him. Never for a second did I buy Boone saying he was optimistic the scan would come through clean. Unfuckingbelievable.
At this point it’s tough to consider Greg Bird the future first baseman of this team. He’s 25 years old and has already had three major injuries sidelining him significant time. First it was the torn labrum in his shoulder, then the debacle with his ankle last year, and now the ankle once more. Anyone making excuses for him saying he’ll be fine in two months is a crazy person. Greg Bird cannot be counted on for anything in the future those are just facts. He’s a great talent and has loads of potential, but if you can’t stay on the field you can’t stay on the field dude. FUCK.
The only good news out of this is that the Yankees are way more prepared to deal with Bird sidelined this year rather than last year’s catastrophe with Chris Carter. Neil Walker has experience playing first and I expect him, at least to start, to platoon with Tyler Austin based off whether a lefty or righty is throwing. When Walker is over at first I expect to see Tyler Wade at second. If that initial Plan B does not work then I wouldn’t be shocked to see Cashman go into the market and grab a cheap veteran bat. Mike Napoli, Adam Lind, and even Matt Holliday are all available right now and the Yanks have around $20 million to spare before they exceed that luxury tax number. Also in the minors is Billy McKinney, who showed flashes during spring of being a nice lefty power bat during spring, as well as Miguel Andujar. I think long term, Andujar is the next possible answer once he learns the position and this could be a scenario where he finally finds a role. He’s just too good of a bat to waste and finally a door has opened up for him.
We were simply riding too high heading into the year. Something had to go wrong and this is it. If there was an injury to happen and be okay from I guess this would be it since we’re so used to it. Still, it blows because Bird sliding in between Stanton and Sanchez with a lefty power bat would’ve been dangerous. Now I’m not entirely sure how the lineup projects out on Opening Day. With Happ starting for the Jays, I’m guessing Tyler Austin is your Opening Day first baseman with Walker over at second. But who knows. Brutal news just three days before the season kicks off.