Question Time: Does Greg Bird Make the Team?

Due to the fact I’m not going to be acquiring to Greg Chicken in the operate-by means of of the 40-person roster, I figured we need to speak about him, getting he is commencing to glance like he could make the workforce.

When the Blue Jays signed him in mid-March, I did not give it a great deal imagined. Teams sign fellas like Chook to minimal league contracts each individual spring, and usually, they don’t make the group. They are depth. They play Triple-A waiting for an damage to open up a place. Or for yet another crew to have an opening, and they choose out. Or they go to Japan.

But the Jays have not found the still left-handed bat they have been wanting for, and Hen has been superb this spring, hitting .333/.478/.722 with 2 house runs in 23 PA. In authentic phrases, whatever you do in 23 at-bats really should imply almost nothing.

Greg arrived up by the Yankees’ program. He looked pretty excellent, it’s possible not a leading 100 prospect, even though Keith Law experienced him #80 on his record back again in 2015, but a good prospect. Regulation said:

Bird’s swing is very quick to the ball, and he accelerates his fingers promptly for tough get hold of to all fields, hardly ever placing the ball on the ground due to the fact he squares it up so routinely. He’s a substantial-IQ hitter with excellent plate discipline and knowing of how to get the job done a pitcher, providing explanation to consider he’ll continue to article significant OBPs even nevertheless he’ll almost certainly hit only .250-260 with a whole lot of strikeouts.

And he had a really very good rookie season that 12 months, hitting .261/.343/.529 with 11 home runs in 46 game titles.

But, prior to the 2016 year, he experienced a torn labrum and skipped the period. In 2017 there ended up extra injuries, but he strike a dwelling operate in game 3 of the ALDS (the only run in a 1- recreation). 2018, 2019, 2020, more injuries.

Previous calendar year he hit .267/.362/.532 with 27 household runs in 112 online games at Triple-A Albuquerque, where Bugs Bunny saved earning improper turns).

I would not seize him up in OOTP Baseball with his personal injury past. But in real daily life? Just because a male has had injury issues doesn’t generally suggest he will continue to have them.

In any case, he’s 29 now, still in his primary. So it is type of really hard not to speak about him in the way scouts spoke in the very first 10 minutes of Moneyball, but he’s huge (6’4”, a great target at initially base), he’s excellent-wanting, I’d imagine his girlfriend is incredibly excellent wanting.

The Jays will probable be dealing with as a lot of RHP as teams can set up to set on the mound, so a sturdy lefty bat might be a great thing. I do dislike the imagined that he would just take at-bats absent from Alejandro Kirk, but the Jays really don’t seem to be to treatment about my dislikes.

PECOTA figures him to engage in 80 online games and strike .213/.302/.379 with 8 dwelling runs. As substantially as I’d dislike to argue with PECOTA’s logic, if he hits just .213 there is no way he’ll get into 80 online games.

Anyway, let us question the issue: