Greg Bird to have right ankle surgery

The Yankees announced that Greg Bird will undergo right ankle surgery on his right ankle. The announcement finally gives everyone some answers after Bird had endured many setbacks over the past few months.

The surgery will be performed tomorrow and he is expected to go through a six week recovery at the minimum. With this timetable, it appears as though the earliest Bird could return would be at some point in September, and it is fair to question whether he will return at all in 2017.

Bird missed all of 2016 after he underwent surgery to repair a torn labrum in his right shoulder. Now, Bird has missed the majority of this season causing some to question whether he will be the answer for the Yankees at first base.

Bird hit just .100/.250/.200 with one home run and three RBIs in 19 games before the injury flared up again on May 1. Bird initially injured himself after fouling a ball off his foot in his final game of his stellar Spring Training where he paced Bryce Harper for the league lead in home runs with eight.

The Yankees have been linked to a number of first basemen on the trade market, and this injury only increases the chances that they will continue searching to fill that hole while they await Bird’s return. The Yankees sit 3.5 games behind the Red Sox in the AL East, and they are currently holding onto the second Wild Card spot just two weeks before the trade deadline.