Jake BirdNYY · WSN · RP

2026 review

Jake Bird was a multi-inning reliever who worked in a lot of games but rarely worked clean: he posted a 5.35 ERA and 1.42 WHIP in 38.2 IP over 44 games, striking out 41 with a 23.8 K% and walking 13 with a 7.6 BB% over 172 BF, picking up 1 win, 1 loss, 7 holds and 3 blown saves. He shuttled between NYY and the minors on Apr 14, Apr 22, Jun 21, Jun 29 and Jul 19, then was traded from NYY to WSN on Aug 3 and kept shuttling there through Aug 26. Drafted at NFBC ADP rank 617, taken in just 2 of 674 drafts, he finished 959th of 1472 in the TDK LABS 5x5 value rank and 482nd of 575 relievers. His 32.3 CSW% over 679 pitches was the 17th highest of 517 pitchers with 100+ BF, but his 5.35 ERA ran 1.05 above his 4.30 xERA over 172 BF. The TDK LABS card tracked the shift in his role: by late Jun it had him as a multi-inning reliever doing clean work, by Aug 10 it had him newly acquired into a fluid Washington pen, and by Aug 24 it had him stuck in middle relief with no clear path to saves.