Jake Bird’s sinker has evolved (and so has his mental game)

When Jake Bird strikes out a batter at Coors Field, a triumphant bird’s screech echoes across the ballpark.

Lately, that sound effect has been getting a lot of work given that currently, Bird ‘s 52 strikeouts tie him for first with Griffin Jax among relievers. Of those Ks, 33 were at Coors compared to 19 on the road.

As of Monday, he leads all MLB relievers in innings (40.1) with Kyle Leahy and Mitch Spence only an inning behind. Bird has a 2.23 ERA, an 11.6 K/9 (26th), a 3.57 BB/9, and 0.45 HR/9 (47th).

He is, in short, putting together an All-Star worthy résumé. Yes, he scuffled some over the weekend at Truist Park in Atlanta, but that’s baseball, so let’s consider the larger picture,…