Empire Writes Back
Fansided

New York Yankees: Top Five Reasons 2017 Will Be Great In The Bronx

By John Franklin

Sep 14, 2016; Bronx, NY, USA; Los Angeles Dodgers starting pitcher Clayton Kershaw (22) delivers a pitch during the fifth inning to New York Yankees shortstop Didi Gregorius (18) at Yankee Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Adam Hunger-USA TODAY Sports
Sep 14, 2016; Bronx, NY, USA; Los Angeles Dodgers starting pitcher Clayton Kershaw (22) delivers a pitch during the fifth inning to New York Yankees shortstop Didi Gregorius (18) at Yankee Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Adam Hunger-USA TODAY Sports /
facebooktwitterreddit
Prev
3 of 6
Next

 

New York Yankees: Top Five Reasons 2017 Will Be Great In The Bronx
Sep 11, 2015; Bronx, NY, USA; New York Yankees first baseman Greg Bird (31) hits a single against the Toronto Blue Jays during the sixth inning at Yankee Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Brad Penner-USA TODAY Sports /

First Base Tandem

This brings back memories of the Tino Martinez and Jason Giambi duo of the early 2000s. Greg Bird was brought up by the Yankees in 2015 and had a great 46 game appearance. In those 46 games, he notched 11 home runs and 31 RBIs. His poise at the plate gave Yankees fans a look into the future at first base beyond Mark Teixeira.

Bird’s late season surge lead many to believe that he would be the obvious choice to take over the reins at first, but a shoulder injury kept him out the entirety of last season. Tyler Austin then came on late in 2016 which made many believe that there would be a competition at first base this season.

Bird is definitely the better all-around player and should be the starter, but the possibility of a platoon is so valuable. Bird is coming off of a very hard injury and having Austin being the alternate player is going to be very important down the stretch. Austin showed this season that he has great power, but doesn’t hit for a high average.

He is the perfect complement for Bird especially because Bird is a lefty batter, and with the good lefty pitching in the AL East, it is going to be huge to have a righty to throw in the lineup like Austin.  

Home/New York Yankees