Spring training means different things to different players.
A chance for veterans to gear up for another 162-game grind, top prospects to get their first tastes of the big leagues and those battling for final roster spots to catch on.
The Yankees and Mets have all those things, and also have former top prospects trying to prove they don’t belong in that final category now or ever again. Michael Conforto and Greg Bird were the toast of their respective teams two seasons ago before one succumbed to heightened expectations and the other to a season-ending shoulder injury.
And now they will be among the most-watched players when each team reports to camp in the coming week.
“He wants to prove to people that he is healthy, but he’s also competing for a spot,” former Marlins and Red Sox third baseman and MLB Network analyst Mike Lowell said of Bird.
“And as a young guy you don’t really have the luxury of using spring training to get your at-bats because you know you don’t have a track record or know the position is yours.”
Bird’s place on the team was thrown somewhat into doubt when the Yankees reached an agreement this week with slugger Chris Carter. Surely, the Yankees hope that the 24-year-old Bird will win the first-base job and the righty-swinging Carter can be used in more of a platoon role.
“You have to come into spring training and that first impression is pretty important,” Lowell said of Bird, who was the 2015 version of Gary Sanchez with 11 home runs in 157 at-bats.
“The preparation for Matt Holliday and Greg Bird is very different. It’s going to be important for Joe Girardi and his staff to see Bird moving around and swinging the bat like they did a couple of seasons ago. Then hopefully he takes off and lets his athletic ability take over.”
Conforto was not slowed by injury in 2016, just weighed down by hype. The 23-year-old corner outfielder emerged as one of the Mets’ postseason standouts during their 2015 World Series run and was given a chance to hit in the middle of the Mets order last season. Conforto slumped to .220 and spent some of last season in Triple-A. Now, with the Mets crowded outfield — Yoenis Cespedes, Curtis Granderson, Jay Bruce, Juan Lagares — there’s a chance Conforto could start this season in Las Vegas.
“The one I am most curious to see is Conforto,” said Lowell, who will be a part of MLB Network’s broadcasting of 200 spring training games and “30 Clubs in 30 Days,” which starts Feb. 20.
“He made such a big splash, I think it was a little unfair putting him in the 3-4 hole, along with Cespedes, and asking him to do something I am not sure is the right spot for him. He didn’t have that time to be a 7-hole hitter and get his feet wet. I think it played with his mental approach and it’s stressful. Playing in New York is no joke. Your struggles and mistakes get magnified and it turns into a roller -coaster. I hope he re-finds that approach and ability to hit the ball to all fields, and I hope spring training is a place where he can get into his comfort level. The sky is the limit for him, if so.”
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