Yankees recalling 1B Bird

– SI Major League Baseball (@si_mlb) August 13, 2015#Yankees 1B prospect Greg Bird earns Player of the Week honors after batting.

Lefty-hitting first baseman Greg Bird will join the reeling Yankees tonight at Progressive Field, in hopes of helping to boost a sluggish lineup.

Bird is a slugging first baseman and would make for a reliable designated hitter.

The Yankees just got swept by the Blue Jays last weekend and now they are one game back in the AL East division after being in the lead for most of the summer. With the Yankees losing five straight, the team needed a different face to try and fashion a spark in the New York offense.

During spring training, Yankees general manager Brian Cashman noted that Bird was New York’s best hitter in the Minor League system.

Bird, a former 2011 fifth round draft pick, has quietly put up nice numbers in his past three seasons in the Minors.

The 22-year-old Bird has flourished since making his Triple-A debut July 4. Cashman also stated that Bird was “untouchable” at the trade deadline. He broke out in 2013 by hitting.288/.428/.511 for Charleston in the Low-A South Atlantic League, with 36 doubles, 20 homers, and 107 walks in 458 at-bats. He is expected to offer relief to 35-year-old Mark Teixeira and 40-year-old Alex Rodriguez as the Yankees continue a 16-day stretch of games. He had the same amount of home runs as he did in AA, while bringing in 23 runs along with seven doubles and one triple to boot.

Bird, 22, was promoted to Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre earlier this season and has been there for 34 games. 282 with 48 home runs and 192 RBI.