PT TOMORROW: AL East—Yankee youngsters stumble out of gate

New York Yankees

While it is still very early, a couple of Yankee youngsters spent the first week of the season providing an object lesson on the perils of paying for prospect panache rather than proven performance.

During spring training, Greg Bird (1B, NYY) made it appear that his return to baseball after a season lost to shoulder surgery was going to be surprisingly smooth. Bird finished the spring 23-for-51 with 8 home runs.

But since the lights have come on for the regular season, Bird has struggled mightily, with 1 hit and 7 strikeouts in his first 16 at-bats, and he is now also dealing with a minor ankle injury that kept him out of weekend action.

Any at-bats Bird loses going forward are likely to go to Chris Carter (1B, NYY),...

Almost!

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