Bye bye, birdie.
That’s the message the Yankees delivered to one of their newest relievers following Monday’s loss, as the team optioned Jake Bird to Triple-A with Mark Leiter Jr. coming off the injured list on Tuesday. The right-handed Bird was acquired from the Rockies for prospects Roc Riggio and Ben Shields the day of the July 31 trade deadline. However, Bird’s Yankees tenure has gotten off to a brutal start.
On Monday in Texas, Bird allowed a 10th-inning, walk-off, three-run homer to Josh Jung after Yankees closer Devin Williams allowed a game-tying solo shot in the ninth. Bird also surrendered a grand slam to the Marlins’ Kyle Stowers in his Yankees debut on Friday in Miami. That game also ended up being a soul-crushing loss for the reeling Bombers, as other newbies Camilo Doval, David Bednar and José Caballero also played pivotal parts in the defeat.
Bird did have a bounce-back appearance in Miami, logging a scoreless inning on Saturday. However, he has allowed seven runs (6 earned), walked two and struck out four over two innings and three games with his new team.
Bird, now in his fourth MLB season, came over from the Rockies with a 4.73 ERA and five homers allowed on the season. He had actually been better at Coors Field, posting a 2.48 ERA at home but a 7.40 ERA on the road prior to the trade.
That Bird has minor league options – as well as team control through the 2028 season – is certainly one of the reasons why the Yankees were interested in him. Of course, they surely weren’t planning to take advantage of his roster flexibility so soon.
But with Leiter coming off the IL and Bird making a poor first impression, the Yankees demoted the newcomer instead of optioning the left-handed Brent Headrick or cutting long-man JT Brubaker.
Leiter, meanwhile, is coming off a leg fracture. The righty had a 4.46 ERA over 34.1 innings before getting hurt, but he was baseball’s unluckiest pitcher. The .411 batting average on balls in play opponents posted against him was the highest mark for any pitcher with at least 30 innings this season.
Leiter’s 29.1 K% ranked 34th among all relievers.
With Bird optioned, the Yankees are now down two of their pre-trade deadline acquisitions, as outfielder Austin Slater suffered a left hamstring injury in Monday’s loss.
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