Yankees’ Greg Bird to return Saturday | What it means

Yankees manager Aaron Boone said the team will likely reactivate first baseman Greg Bird from the disabled list for the game against the Angels at Yankee Stadium on Saturday, May 26, 2018. (5/26/2018)

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NEW YORK — Hi, hi Birdy.

On Friday, Yankees manager Aaron Boone said first baseman Greg Bird will return to the lineup against the Angels at Yankee Stadium on Saturday.

Is this Yankees’ lineup with Bird?

Here’s what it means:

Full strength: Bird won’t face any limitations, Boone said. He’s fully recovered from right ankle surgery that removed a bone spur March 27. “I think he’s good to go,” Boone said. “The reports have been really good. The at-bats have been good. The expectation, I know, it’s still the start of the major league season but we feel like physically, timing wise, he’s in a pretty good place right now to be starting his season and he had most of a spring training with us anyway and now has played a number of a games under his belt down there so we feel like he’s as ready as he can be.”

What’s Austin’s fate? Boone didn’t shed light on who will be removed from the Yankees’ 25-man roster to make room for the 25-year-old. He praised rookie first baseman Tyler Austin, who seems like likely casualty. Austin has hit eight home runs and been a terror against left-handed pitching but has minor-league options and would provide the Yankees first base depth at Triple-A. Neil Walker would seem likely to be Bird’s backup at first base in the majors. “As I’ve said with Tyler, he’s been an impact performer for us,” Boone said. “He’s a reason why we’re sitting here where we are with a strong record, he’s one of those guys that’s played a major role in that and we expect that to continue throughout this year.”

The Yankees want to keep an extra pitcher: With the team ready to play 14 games in 13 days — including a doubleheader in Detroit — Boone made it sound like the Yankees would want to keep the extra bullpen arm that’s been around all season. “How much length around off days are we getting out of our starters?” Boone said. “How much do we feel like our bullpen is rested enough? Those are all questions we wrestle with all the time and what’s the best way to kind of protect everyone but optimize our roster? That’s one of the internal conversations that we’re constantly having.”

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