Bird having ankle surgery again, out 6-8 weeks

[jon abbey]

Jack Curry‏Verified account @JackCurryYES 8m8 minutes ago

Greg Bird will have surgery tomorrow to remove a small bone spur from the outside of his right ankle, Yankees say. He’s expected to rehab for 6 to 8 weeks before returning to game action.

 

[RedOctober3829]

Big blow to the Yankees. Bird was expected to slot between Judge and Stanton in the order. Now a combination of players will have to pick up the slack.

 

[Wingack]

He will be out longer than that. Book it.

Get Adam Lind on the horn.

 

[RedOctober3829]

He will be out longer than that. Book it.

Get Adam Lind on the horn.

Are we not sure this is actually Nick Johnson reincarnated?

 

[jon abbey]

Big blow to the Yankees. Bird was expected to slot between Judge and Stanton in the order. Now a combination of players will have to pick up the slack.

I'm not sure if it really is a big blow, honestly. He will likely be replaced initially by a platoon of Walker/Austin, and since I think Austin should have been on the roster and in the lineup against LHP anyway, I think that part is a good thing.

This is what will likely happen:

1B goes from Bird to a platoon of Walker/Austin (although Boone said he expects Austin to get some ABs against RHP too).
2B goes from a combo of Walker/Wade to mostly Wade, with Torres sitting in AAA waiting for his chance.

NY still will have McKinney, Frazier, Andujar, Torres and Mike Ford in AAA after Austin is called up, this isn't like last year when Bird and Austin were out and NY had to use Chris Carter. There are a ton of depth options in-house this year, most or all of whom seem ready or close.

 

[Buck Showalter]

When I saw this thread (on the home page) I figured it was Jabari Bird and I was going to lament about the injuries to the Celtics.

But what a surprise....keep bringing the good news.

 

[jon abbey]

Get Adam Lind on the horn.

The thing about Lind is he can't hit lefties, so you would need Austin on the roster anyway, and while that could work briefly (DL Bird, dump the 13th pitcher), you will need the roster spot when Ellsbury is back very soon. Walker gives you 90-95 percent of what Lind could give you against RHP, and he is already on the roster.

 

[terrynever]

Glad to get surgery done now instead of waiting four months as they did in 2017. Bird certainly seems injury prone. Foot/ankle injuries are troubling and often recur.
On a team with this much offense, losing Bird's bat is not an issue. As Jon said, a Walker/Austin platoon is more than adequate on offense.
Defensively, I think losing Bird hurts the club.

 

[MICHAELG63]

Speaking as someone who has had multiple ankle surgeries, if this was a bone spur it is something they should of seen months ago, I don't think a bone spur has rendered him to surgery unless they seem something more serious in the ankle as a potential problem. Like achilles tendon issues or a foot nerve issue which is like a carpal tunnel issue of the foot. The rehab for either is far more than 6-8 weeks will be interesting to follow to say the least

 

[jon abbey]

Defensively, I think losing Bird hurts the club.

Just saw this, I think it’s actually probably the opposite. Walker doesn’t have much experience at 1B but supposedly he looked great tonight (three slick plays in one inning) and Wade is better defensively at 2B than Walker.

 

[terrynever]

Just saw this, I think it’s actually probably the opposite. Walker doesn’t have much experience at 1B but supposedly he looked great tonight (three slick plays in one inning) and Wade is better defensively at 2B than Walker.

I'm all in on this if Walker is comfortable at first, mostly because I think the Yankees need a fast, aggressive player like Wade in the lineup as often as possible.

 

[Big John]

Yes, get the surgery out of the way now. Walker looks like he's swinging the bat pretty well, and so is Austin.