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TAMPA, Fla. — Jake Bird stood at his locker and relived the nightmare that was last season — the rush of getting traded from the Colorado Rockies to the New York Yankees at the deadline and shaving his gigantic beard, only to immediately struggle and last just three relief appearances before they demoted him to Triple A for the remainder of the year.
“That was like … s—,” he said Saturday.
Then he paused for exactly five seconds.
“That was bad.”
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Yet Bird had reason for optimism, as did those counting on him. The day before, he impressed in a live batting practice session at George M. Steinbrenner Field. He even caught the eye of manager Aaron Boone.
“Bird flashed some good stuff,” Boone said, “which was good to see, and which was kind of in line with what his bullpens have been. You really want to get that command in a good spot because the stuff is nasty and he’s tough to hit, and he’s got the ability to get (righties and lefties) out.”
Pitching well in mid-February in spring training isn’t quite the same as getting the job done in the Bronx at any time of the year. But it was a good step for the 30-year-old righty.
That’s because the Yankees have open spots toward the back of their bullpen, and Bird has a chance at filling one of them.
Six of the team’s projected eight bullpen spots are filled (barring injury): David Bednar, Camilo Doval, Fernando Cruz, Tim Hill, Ryan Yarborough and Paul Blackburn. That would seem to leave room for Bird, though he has a minor-league option remaining and could start the year back at Triple A.
When Bird is pitching well, his sinker touches 97 mph, and he gets a good amount of ground balls (46.1 percent last season). He combines it with a sweeper and a curveball that each get solid whiff rates — 33.8 percent and 38 percent, respectively, last season.
Pitching coach Matt Blake was in touch throughout the offseason and felt good about what he had seen in Bird’s time at the player development complex before the start of camp.
“He’s got unique shapes and big breaking balls that are sharp and move a lot,” Blake said, “and he throws hard, and he’s got a good sinker. He should have the weaponry to get lefties and righties out at a high level. Now, it’s just a matter of attacking the zone and doing it.”
Bird believes he’s ready for the challenge.
“I feel I’m in a really good spot,” he said.
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It’s a spot that’s much better than it was in the middle of last season. Bird spent just five days with the Yankees, giving up six earned runs in three appearances.
In his first outing, he was slammed for four earned runs in the Yankees’ 13-12 debacle of a loss at the Miami Marlins. The next night, he threw a scoreless sixth inning in a loss. Then, two days later, he gave up a three-run, walk-off homer in an 8-5 loss to the Texas Rangers. Not long after the defeat, Giancarlo Stanton ripped into the team in a one-man, closed-door meeting, imploring it to play up to its potential. Bird was immediately demoted to Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre.
“It was really weird,” he said about his performance, “and it took me a little minute to figure it out.”
Bird said a full offseason working with the Yankees’ pitching department helped. He also said that he’s looking forward to pitching away from Coors Field. In Colorado, he said, he learned he had to accept that his stuff had less bite than it did on the road.
“It’s going to be simpler to not have to make adjustments to how your pitches are moving from home and away,” he said. “That’s the one big thing. At home, your pitches are going to move with 25 percent less spin (and) movement than on the road. So when you go on the road, you’ve got to get a feel for how the stuff is moving back. So it’s going to be nice to not have to think about that.”
He added that he was well aware of the story of reliever Luke Weaver, who was a struggling starting pitcher until the Yankees put him full-time in the bullpen and he excelled, mostly in a late-inning, multi-inning role. Bird spent time watching interviews with Weaver and Blake on YouTube, trying to glean any nuggets of wisdom he could from them. Then this winter, he asked the pitching department to “unload” on him with whatever information they had.
Now, Bird is ready to fulfill the hopes the Yankees had for him last year.
“I feel that the stuff I worked on in the offseason is all really good stuff,” he said. “So, I’m just excited to keep going.”