Prospect Profiles #3: Greg Bird
Entering the 2015 season, Bird is certainly the word within the Yankees farm system. After playing in 102 games between Class-A Advanced Tampa and Double-A Trenton. first baseman Greg Bird is coming off an impressive 2014 campaign that saw him hit .271 with 30 doubles, 14 homers and 43 RBIs.
The 22-year old Bird has been an under-the-radar prospect since the Yankees selected him in the fifth-round of the 2011 draft. The lefty really put himself on the map after earning a promotion to Trenton in early August to fill the void left when Peter O’Brien was traded to Arizona at the trade deadline.
Bird hit seven homers and drove in 11 runs in the final 23 games of the season for the Thunder. In need of additional work, Bird was summoned to the Arizona Fall League this past October and absolutely dominated the leagues pitching.
Playing for the Scottsdale Scorpions, Bird led the AFL in home runs (six) and runs scored (21). He also ranked second in hits (31), RBIs (21), and total bases (550), while ranking third in extra-base hits (12) and slugging percentage (.556). Bird’s .313 batting average was good for sixth in the league.
Despite a 16-game hitting streak to begin the season, Bird was initially snubbed from the midseason Fall Stars Game. After being added to the roster one day prior to the game, Bird started and blasted a 450-foot home run before being named as the Game’s MVP and was ultimately honored as the leagues MVP at season’s end.
Ranked as the 83rd best prospect in all of baseball in a list recently released by ESPN prospect guru Keith Law, Bird is an imposing presence standing at 6’3″ and weighing in at 215-pounds. With an advanced and patient plate approach and a clean stroke from the left side, Bird certainly projects as an ideal heir-apparent to Mark Teixeira as soon as 2016.
Rolling Thunder 
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