Palladino: Greg Bird Has Chance To Make Statement On Grand Stage
By Ernie Palladino
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Alex Rodriguez takes a seat for the next three days, but the Yanks shouldn't worry about their power potential.
They've got Greg Bird.
No, that's not meant to be facetious. As Joe Girardi's team begins its final three-game installment of the Subway Series at Citi Field, the 22-year-old rookie has flown into the spotlight as the Yanks' sole heir to Mark Teixeira at first base. With all the New York baseball world watching this weekend, a strong performance against the Mets would set a lot of minds at ease that there will be life at that spot after Teixeira, whenever after comes.
Fans Ready For Subway Series
It's not that Girardi expects Bird to lead them single-handed out of their three-game deficit and into the AL East lead. They may not overcome that, and certainly won't if the Blue Jays have anything to say about it. Besides that, making up any ground at a venue where the Mets have played 20 games above .500 presents its own set of challenges.
What it does afford Bird is a great stage. Short of a playoff appearance, the spotlight shines brightest on this series, if only because so many people have bought into the crosstown-rival image that MLB concocted those many years ago with interleague play. Even in this age of daily interleague play, Yanks-Mets still gets the blood pumping.
It's still like playing the Big Room around here.
If Bird shows as well as he did Wednesday night in St. Petersburg, he'll get a lot of people excited, some of whom sit in his own dugout.
It's one thing to bang a homer off the D-ring catwalk at Tropicana Field, a lofty place that only five batters reached this year. It will be quite another to put one over the Pepsi Porch at a key moment against Steven Matz, Noah Syndergaard or, on Sunday, Matt Harvey.
KEIDEL: WEEKEND SUBWAY SERIES MEANS MORE TO METS THAN IT DOES YANKS
The Yanks could use a piece of good news like that. Pitching issues -- struggling Ivan Nova is now headed to the bullpen -- have cast doubt over their wild-card worthiness. The lack of a DH in this series automatically turns A-Rod into a pinch-hitter. And the Mets' fight for home field in the NLDS makes them a motivated club.
If nothing else, a solid Citi Field weekend for Bird would solidify his position as Teixeira's successor, a status that could become permanent sooner rather than later.
The fact is, nobody knows how Teixeira will respond to yet another season-ending injury. While it is true that he became the Yanks' most potent offensive weapon after struggling two years with a bad wrist, Tex will turn 36 next April. That doesn't automatically turn him into dead weight. Indeed, he could mount just as productive a comeback as this year. Look at Rodriguez, who has 32 homers and 83 RBIs after a full year's PED suspension. But given his injury history, there is no telling when the next catastrophe will send the mighty switch-hitter back to an extended stay on the DL.
Since his accelerated Aug. 13 call-up, Bird has seven homers and 21 RBIs. His RBI double and homer Wednesday produced the runs that gave fellow rookie Luis Severino his fourth win of the season. His pair of two-run homers Aug. 19 won the game against Minnesota.
He has contributed key hits. He has shown an uncommon maturity at the plate and in the field, totally justifying Brian Cashman's refusal to part with him at the trade deadline.
This weekend, he can prove conclusively that all is well in the Yanks' first-base picture -- now and for the future -- under the brightest spotlight in New York. Short of the playoffs, it doesn't get much bigger around here than Yanks-Mets in September.
To make the Subway Series his own would skyrocket the standing of the 22-year-old rookie who already looks like he's played up here for a decade.
