Blue Jays: Greg Bird is doing everything right to gain a roster spot

Tyson Shushkewich

Mar 26, 2022; Tampa, Florida, USA; Toronto Blue Jays infielder Greg Bird (3) is congratulated after hitting a two run home run against the New York Yankees in the eighth inning during spring training at George M. Steinbrenner Field. Mandatory Credit: Nathan Ray Seebeck-USA TODAY Sports

Signing with the Blue Jays earlier this month, infielder Greg Bird joins the club on a Minor League deal and is fighting for a spot on the active roster heading into the 2022 campaign. Bird is no stranger to the AL East, having spent four seasons flirting with the New York Yankees roster spanning from 2015 to 2019.

A former fifth-round pick of the Yankees back in 2011, Bird made his MLB debut in 2015 but would miss the entire 2016 season with a right labrum tear. Over the next three seasons, Bird would struggle with a variety of injuries that would limit him to just 140 games and 454 at-bats. Through his four years with the Yankees, the lefty-batter would amass a .211/.301/.424 slash line with 32 home runs, 98 RBI, and a .725 OPS while spending a majority of the time playing first base.

Bird would be DFA’d following the 2019 campaign and split time between the Texas Rangers and the Philadelphia Phillies in 2020 before joining the Colorado Rockies last season, spending all year in AAA where he sported a .267 batting average with 27 home runs and a .894 OPS.

With Opening Day just weeks away, Greg Bird is taking advantage of his MiLB deal with the Blue Jays and could find himself on the active roster in the near future.

The Tennessee product entered this season looking for a spot on the Blue Jays bench with Vladimir Guerrero Jr. slated to take a majority of reps at first but comes in with the advantage of batting from the left side, an area the Jays lack on their current roster. A strong Spring Training would go a long way for the former Yankee and so far, Bird is taking full advantage of the opportunity.

Through six games this Spring, Bird has five hits through 12 at-bats and has two home runs and five RBI to his credit already. Most notably, he smacked a two-run home run in the eighth inning of yesterday’s contest against his former club that gave the Jays the lead and sealed the victory. Bird also has five walks compared to one strikeout so far in the Blue Jays camp and he just keeps finding ways to get on base and drive in runs. He also has no errors to his name through 23.0 innings at first base this spring.

While there are still a couple of weeks left before Opening Day rolls around and final roster cuts are made, Bird has set himself up well looking at the overall picture. If he continues to keep hitting the ball well, he could very well find himself heading North to begin the season as a member of the Jays bench.

Tyson Shushkewich

Tyson Shushkewich grew up in a small farming community just east of Lethbridge, Alberta. He would leave this small town for Halifax, Nova Scotia, and attend Dalhousie University, graduating with a degree in Environmental Science and Biology. Now residing in Central Ontario with his wife, Tyson has been a fan of baseball since he was 10 years old when his dad took him to his first game in Toronto. When he is not writing articles, you can find him hiking in the forests, sitting in the upper deck of the Rogers Centre, tweeting about his baseball memorabilia, or watching the game with his cat Apollo and Beagle-mix Archie.