TAMPA, Fla. _ Greg Bird didn't make it through spring training completely healthy after all, scratched from Saturday's split-squad game in Kissimmee with what the Yankees called "a sore right foot."
The news has to be concerning to the Yankees, who said Bird would be seeing a specialist later in the day, if for no other reason it's the same foot that caused the first baseman to miss most of last season.
While Bird struggled at the plate this spring _ he entered Saturday hitting .154 with a .267 on-base percentage with one homer in 18 games this spring _ all indications were that he was healthy.
The Yankees made the announcement during the first inning of their other split-squad game, against the Blue Jays at Steinbrenner Field.
In that game, Neil Walker started at first base and the veteran would be a candidate to get more time there.
If it is determined Bird, 25, won't be ready for the season-opener Thursday in Toronto, Tyler Austin, a reserve first baseman/outfielder sent to minor league camp last Wednesday, would be a strong candidate to be named to the 25-man roster. Backup catcher Austin Romine is also capable of playing first.
Bird, limited to 94 big-league games since his major-league debut late in 2015, has yet to be evaluated so it's too soon to draw any conclusions. Regardless, that the same foot is an issue at all has to be frustrating to Bird, who had the Yankees dreaming big on his potential after a solid big-league debut in 2015 when he hit 11 homers and drove in 31 runs in 157 at-bats.
But soon came offseason surgery to repair a labrum tear in his right shoulder that cost him all of 2016. Then in the final game of a powerful spring training in which he hit eight homers, Bird fouled a ball off his right ankle. A severe bone bruise cost him most of last season and eventually required surgery.
Bird struggled after returning but found a groove down the stretch. He hit .295 with a 1.165 OPS in the final 14 games, hitting six homers and driving in 15 runs. He produced a .426 on-base percentage and .938 OPS in the Yankees' 13-game playoff run, which had the player and the Yankees expecting the best in 2018.
"I think people saw it, but I want to do it for a full season, I've got to do it for a full season," Bird said earlier this spring of the expectations surrounding him. "That's what it's all about. I'm not going to lie, I'm anxious to show it, I want to. It's what I've wanted to do."
