Yankees 2019 first baseman: Greg Bird and/or Luke Voit?

Greg Bird

Position: First Baseman

Bats: Left  •  Throws: Right

6-4, 220lb

Team: New York Yankees (majors)

Born: November 9, 1992 (Age: 26-117 days) in Memphis, TN

Luke Voit

Positions: First Baseman and Pinch Hitter

Bats: Right  •  Throws: Right

6-3, 225lb

Team: New York Yankees (majors)

Born: February 13, 1991 (Age: 28-021 days) in Wildwood, MO

The Yankees have a lot of righty power: Judge, Stanton, Sanchez, Andujar, Torres. And about 70% of pitchers throw right handed. Batters tend to do better against pitchers who throw opposite of how they swing. So Bird has a built in advantage being a lefty batter. And the Yankee Stadium right field porch is short.

But Luke Voit has super numbers for making solid contact. Data from baseball-reference.com

2019 Projections:
Bird:

Year	Tm	Age	PA	AB	R	H	2B	3B	HR	RBI	SB	CS	BB	SO	BA	OBP	SLG	OPS	TB	GDP	HBP	SH	SF	IBB	Rel
2019	Proj.	26	373	327	36	70	18	1	14	47	2	1	36	90	.214	.298	.404	.702	132	5	5	1	4	1	65%

Voit:

Year	Tm	Age	PA	AB	R	H	2B	3B	HR	RBI	SB	CS	BB	SO	BA	OBP	SLG	OPS	TB	GDP	HBP	SH	SF	IBB	Rel
2019	Proj.	28	293	262	42	71	13	1	15	45	2	1	25	72	.271	.342	.500	.842	131	6	4	1	1	1	52%

Careers:

Bird:

Year	Age	Tm	Lg	G	PA	AB	R	H	2B	3B	HR	RBI	SB	CS	BB	SO	BA	OBP	SLG	OPS	OPS+	TB	GDP	HBP	SH	SF	IBB	Pos	Awards
2015	22	NYY	AL	46	178	157	26	41	9	0	11	31	0	0	19	53	.261	.343	.529	.871	135	83	1	1	0	1	0	3
2017	24	NYY	AL	48	170	147	20	28	7	0	9	28	0	0	19	42	.190	.288	.422	.710	84	62	2	2	0	2	0	3/D
2018	25	NYY	AL	82	311	272	23	54	16	1	11	38	0	0	30	78	.199	.286	.386	.672	79	105	4	5	0	4	1	3/D
3 Yrs				176	659	576	69	123	32	1	31	97	0	0	68	173	.214	.302	.434	.736	95	250	7	8	0	7	1

Voit:

Year	Age	Tm	Lg	G	PA	AB	R	H	2B	3B	HR	RBI	SB	CS	BB	SO	BA	OBP	SLG	OPS	OPS+	TB	GDP	HBP	SH	SF	IBB	Pos	Awards
2017	26	STL	NL	62	124	114	18	28	9	0	4	18	0	0	7	31	.246	.306	.430	.736	92	49	4	3	0	0	0	3/D
2018	27	TOT	MLB	47	161	143	30	46	5	0	15	36	0	0	17	43	.322	.398	.671	1.069	182	96	3	1	0	0	0	3/D9
2018	27	STL	NL	8	13	11	2	2	0	0	1	3	0	0	2	4	.182	.308	.455	.762	106	5	0	0	0	0	0	/3
2018	27	NYY	AL	39	148	132	28	44	5	0	14	33	0	0	15	39	.333	.405	.689	1.095	188	91	3	1	0	0	0	3/D9
2 Yrs				109	285	257	48	74	14	0	19	54	0	0	24	74	.288	.358	.564	.922	141	145	7	4	0	0	0

Splits:
Bird:

I	Split	G	GS	PA	AB	R	H	2B	3B	HR	RBI	SB	CS	BB	SO	BA	OBP	SLG	OPS	TB	GDP	HBP	SH	SF	IBB	ROE	BAbip	tOPS+
	vs RHP	169		509	448	51	92	27	1	23	69	0	0	50	134	.205	.291	.424	.715	190	6	6	0	5	1	4	.233	94
	vs LHP	82		150	128	18	31	5	0	8	28	0	0	18	39	.242	.340	.469	.809	60	1	2	0	2	0	2	.277	121

Voit:

I	Split	G	GS	PA	AB	R	H	2B	3B	HR	RBI	SB	CS	BB	SO	BA	OBP	SLG	OPS	TB	GDP	HBP	SH	SF	IBB	ROE	BAbip	tOPS+
	vs RHP	88		199	176	30	49	11	0	10	33	0	0	20	53	.278	.362	.511	.873	90	4	3	0	0	0	2	.345	92
	vs LHP	43		86	81	18	25	3	0	9	21	0	0	4	21	.309	.349	.679	1.028	55	3	1	0	0	0	1	.314	118

I can't see the Yankees letting Luke Voit go elsewhere.