Jake Bird’s Fresh Start: After a Rocky Debut, Yankees Reliever Eyes Redemption in 2026
TAMPA, Fla. - Jake Bird isn’t sugarcoating it. His first stint in pinstripes?
A disaster. Traded from the Rockies at last year’s deadline, Bird went from bearded bullpen arm in Colorado to clean-shaven Yankee - and then just as quickly, a Triple-A afterthought.
“That was like… s-,” Bird admitted, standing at his locker at George M. Steinbrenner Field. Then, after a pause: “That was bad.”
But here’s the thing - this spring, there’s a different energy around Bird. And for good reason.
On Friday, he stepped on the mound for live batting practice and gave the Yankees something to think about. His stuff popped. Manager Aaron Boone took notice.
“Bird flashed some good stuff,” Boone said. “You really want to get that command in a good spot because the stuff is nasty and he’s tough to hit. He’s got the ability to get both righties and lefties out.”
Now, let’s be clear - looking sharp in mid-February doesn’t earn you a spot in the Bronx. But for Bird, this was a meaningful step forward. He’s 30 now, and while the Yankees’ bullpen has some locked-in arms, there’s still room at the back end - and Bird’s name is in the mix.
Right now, six bullpen spots are essentially spoken for: David Bednar, Camilo Doval, Fernando Cruz, Tim Hill, Ryan Yarborough, and Paul Blackburn. That leaves two openings, and Bird has a shot - though the Yankees do have the flexibility to option him back to Triple-A if needed.
But when Bird is right, the tools are there. His sinker can touch 97 mph, and he’s a ground-ball machine - 46.1% ground-ball rate last season.
He pairs that with a sweeper and a curveball, both of which generate swings and misses. His sweeper had a 33.8% whiff rate last year, and the curveball was even better at 38%.
Yankees pitching coach Matt Blake has been locked in on Bird’s progress since the offseason and liked what he saw at the team’s player development complex before camp.
“He’s got unique shapes and big breaking balls that are sharp and move a lot,” Blake said. “He throws hard, and he’s got a good sinker.
He should have the weaponry to get lefties and righties out at a high level. Now, it’s just a matter of attacking the zone and doing it.”
That’s the challenge Bird is embracing. He says he’s in a good place - physically, mentally, and mechanically.
“I feel I’m in a really good spot,” Bird said.
It’s a far cry from where he was last summer. After arriving in New York, Bird lasted just five days with the big-league club. In three appearances, he gave up six earned runs.
His debut? Brutal.
Four earned runs in a chaotic 13-12 loss to the Marlins. He followed it up with a scoreless inning the next night, but two days later, he gave up a walk-off three-run homer in an 8-5 loss to the Rangers.
That was the final straw. Giancarlo Stanton reportedly called a closed-door meeting to fire up the team, and Bird was sent down to Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre.
“It was really weird,” Bird said. “It took me a little minute to figure it out.”
He used the offseason to reset. Working closely with the Yankees’ pitching department, Bird focused on refining his arsenal and embracing the adjustments that come with leaving Coors Field behind. Pitching in Colorado, he said, meant constantly recalibrating his stuff depending on whether he was at home or on the road.
“It’s going to be simpler to not have to make adjustments to how your pitches are moving from home and away,” Bird said. “At home, your pitches are going to move with 25 percent less spin and movement than on the road.
So when you go on the road, you’ve got to get a feel for how the stuff is moving back. So it’s going to be nice to not have to think about that.”
Bird also did his homework. He studied Luke Weaver’s transformation - a pitcher who reinvented himself in the Yankees’ bullpen after struggling as a starter.
Bird dove into interviews with Weaver and Blake, trying to absorb any insight he could. Then he went a step further, asking the Yankees’ pitching department to give him everything - data, feedback, analysis.
“I asked them to unload on me,” he said.
Now, Bird’s hoping to turn all that work into results. The Yankees brought him in for a reason last summer, and while that first chapter didn’t go as planned, he’s focused on writing a better one this spring.
“I feel that the stuff I worked on in the offseason is all really good stuff,” he said. “So, I’m just excited to keep going.”
And if the early signs are any indication, Jake Bird might just be ready to take flight in the Bronx.