Luke Voit homers as he battles Greg Bird for Yankees' first-base job

DUNEDIN, Fla. — It’s just over a week into the best competition in Yankees camp, and neither Greg Bird nor Luke Voit has blinked.

Voit, who entered spring training with “a leg up” on Bird, in the words of general manager Brian Cashman, hit his second homer in a 5-2 split-squad loss to the Blue Jays on Sunday at Dunedin Stadium.

Voit hit 14 homers in 114 at-bats after taking over everyday first-base duties from Bird last Aug. 24.

“We saw a lot of that last year,” said third-base coach Phil Nevin, who managed the Yankees’ club here (Aaron Boone managed in the split-squad game in Tampa). “Aggressive early in the count, getting good pitches to hit. He took some good swings today.”

In his first at-bat, leading off the second inning against righthander Matt Shoemaker, Voit hammered a first-pitch fastball to the opposite field for a home run.

“That’s my swing,” Voit said of going to rightfield. “Want to make sure I’m staying on my back hip and not coming out of it. When I’m there, I’m at my best, and I felt pretty good today.”

Voit hit a seed in the third against righthander Sam Gaviglio but right at shortstop Freddy Galvis. He went 1-for-3, striking out on three pitches against Ken Giles in his final at-bat.

Voit is 3-for-10 with two homers. Bird, who went 0-for-2 with a walk in the Yankees’ 7-1 victory in Tampa, is 6-for-13 with a homer and three doubles.

While media and fans are tracking the race between Voit and Bird on a daily basis, the players, at least publicly, are not. Still, a solid start beats the alternative.

“Hitting that ball the other day [a home run in Port Charlotte last Sunday] to centerfield and hitting that one to right, and then I lined out in my other at-bat,” Voit said. “I feel like it’s still there, the consistency. It means I’m on time. My last at-bat, I kind of came out of that, but it’s going to happen. Ken’s a good pitcher. Outside of that, two quality at-bats, did everything I could in the field, so a positive game for me. I’ll take it.”

Last week Voit brought up defense, an element of his game he spent the offseason trying to improve. He said he wants to win a Gold Glove and “to make my defense night and day.”

Voit wanted to get some opportunities to make plays Sunday. He was a bit disappointed that he had only two balls hit to him, both foul pop-ups.

“I was hoping, because they had Rowdy Tellez and two other guys that are big-time pull hitters in there, but it’s nice that now I’m expecting it,” Voit said. “Last year I wasn’t really, it was more just getting my hits kind of thing. I wanted to be good defensively, but just the amount of effort I put in this offseason and in spring training, as much as with my hitting, it’s really shown.”