Greg Bird received criticism from an anonymous Yankees source:
Much as the Torres and Fowler injuries were downright heartbreaking, the Bird mystery ankle bruise has become merely annoying. Despite numerous tests that have turned up nothing, Bird continues to insist the ankle is still sore — too sore to allow him to play. The Yankee brass has become exasperated with Bird, who’s never been able to stay healthy, and it has gotten to the point where if he doesn’t get back on the field after the All-Star break, they are prepared to move him over the winter.
“You really have to wonder what’s with this guy,” a Yankee insider complained to me earlier this week. “You’d think with Judge and Sanchez, the guys he came up through the system with, doing so well up here he’d want to be a part of this. Apparently not.”
I’m seen some criticism of this statement. Bird and Joe Girardi pushed back against it today:
Yankees manager Joe Girardi backed his player, saying Bird has done everything to try to come back and that only a player can really assess himself. Girardi said that when he was a player, he would have been unhappy if a team “insider” questioned his desire.
“I don’t think I would be too happy about it,” Girardi said. “Because I think only the players know. I would be a little upset about someone questioning my desire and my integrity.”
On one hand, diagnosis of an injury is not always easy. On the other hand, sometimes people need a push. Bird is seeing another doctor on Monday, maybe that will clear up the situation. As I mentioned before, he might just be another Nick Johnson, always getting hurt and always taking longer than expected to heal.
It sounds like a Randy Levinething to do. Man up and put your name to your criticism.
Bird should sue the Yankees for defamation. It was they who let him play for a month with a severe bone bruise.
Jeter played through an ankle bone bruise and it led to a fracture that cost him all of 2013. They tried to rush Tex back from a bone bruise only to find out it was fractured, possiblydue to his rehab work.
A bone bruise is a fracture of the inner bone. Not resting it delays and even stops the healing process. Thats likely what happened here. Imaging tests are not 100% sensitive, sometimes you just have to get surgery to find out whats up. His previous injury was a torn labrum he played through in 2015. Yankees failed to disgnose it until ST almost was starting which cost him the entire year it being his throwing shoulder
Expectations as to when a player should return are frequently up to the team. Ellsbury had a similar rap when Red Sox doctors refuised to MRI a bruised rib. When Ellsbury said he was going for a 2nd opinion they did an MRI and found 4 broken ribs. When they cleared him to play and he was still hurting his Doc found there were 5 broken ribs and the pain was due to the 5th one had not healed. When he subluxed his shoulder they failed to report the ligament damage which delayed his return
Someone should ask Gary Nolan for his thoughts on team officials questioning a player’s injury.
That may not have been a very nice thing to say but it’s hardly defamatory, and it probably qualifies as an opinion, which is protected speech anyway. Plus I’m not sure that suing the team you work for would help your career.
More to the point, it may well be that the Yankee brass thinks Bird isn’t really hurt and that he needs something to prod him to get back on the field. The fact that Girardi stood up for him publicly doesn’t mean Girardi disagrees. He may just be the good cop in this scenario.