Greg Bird reminds Yankees that he can still hit homers

Greg Bird last had an at-bat with the New York Yankees on April 13, 2019. Now, almost three years later, the first baseman is sending a reminder to the franchise that he can still mash at the plate.

After rejoining the New York Yankees system, Greg Bird hit a home run in his first at-bat

It doesn’t get much better when it comes to reintroductions than what the 29-year-old Bird did on Friday night in his first plate appearance as a member of the Scranton/Wilkes-Barre RailRiders, the Triple-A affiliate of the New York Yankees.

Bird would go for 2-for-5 in the contest, including his two-run first-inning blast. It comes after a season where Bird would hit a team-leading 27 home runs and drive in 91 runs as a member of the Triple-A Albuquerque Isotopes, an affiliate of the Colorado Rockies.

Since being designated for assignment by the Yankees on November 20, 2019, Bird has been a part of four other franchises, but hasn’t made a Major League appearance since that April 2019 game as a member of the Yankees.

Could a reunion in New York come this season? If Bird can continue to show he can hit, it’s certainly not out of the question. However, that has been the problem with him latching on with another team since his departure from New York … and even before. He has a career slash line with the Yankees of .211/.301/.424, but those 32 career homers were enough to keep him on the MLB roster.

He has also battled an extensive list of injuries during his career, preventing him from reaching his full potential. However, last season in Albuquerque, Bird played in 112 games and posted a slash line of .267/.362/.532, showing a marked improvement not only at the plate, but also in his ability to stay on the field.

Those are both good signs and statistics that Bird hopes to carry over into the Yankees system and remind those in New York who cheered him so loudly for four seasons that he can still make an impact.