Girardi concerned Bird won't make it back this season

First base has been a question mark for the New York Yankees all season long and things may only get worse.

Hours after officially outrighting the struggling Chris Carter to Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre, manager Joe Girardi didn't have good news to deliver about a separate Yankees first baseman, Greg Bird.

Girardi told Meredith Marakovits of YES that there is concern Bird won't make it back this season because of continued issues with his knee and ankle.

After initially injuring his ankle in May, Bird fouled a ball off his right knee during a rehab assignment earlier this month.

The 24-year-old Bird was the Yankees' Opening Day starter at first base after an impressive spring training (eight home runs, 15 RBIs, 1.654 OPS), but hasn't appeared in a big-league game since May 1.

New York recently called up Tyler Austin to play first, but he's dealing with hamstring bruising, which could force the Yankees to circle back to Carter because of Bird's absence.

Before landing on the disabled list, Bird was hitting a meager .100/.250/.200 with one home run and three RBIs.

Bird missed all of the 2016 season recovering from surgery on his right shoulder.

He impressed in his rookie season in 2015, hitting .261/.343/.529 with 11 home runs and 31 RBIs across 46 games.