TAMPA -- Some of the best players on the Yankees bussed four hours across Florida on Saturday for an East Coast game on Sunday afternoon against Giancarlo Stanton's former team.

The Yankees gave Stanton the day off, so he won't be facing the Miami Marlins in Jupiter, Fla., but Aaron Judge will be there playing right field in what will be his first back-to-back assignment this spring. Shortstop Didi Gregorius, catcher Gary Sanchez and center fielder Aaron Hicks will be in the Yankees' lineup, too.

A fourth Yankees regular seeing action will be first baseman Greg Bird, and he's the one that probably will be taking this Grapefruit League game the most serious.

All along, the Yankees have been thinking that all they need for Bird to take off and become a star is some long-time-coming good health.

He's healthy.

The Yankees are still waiting for the biggest left-handed power bat in their lineup to start swinging well this spring.

We're not going to sugarcoat it: Thus far, he's been bad.

In nine games, Bird is hitting .095 with two singles in 21 at-bats. He's walked five times, but trumping that are his 10 strikeouts.

Is it time to worry just a teeny bit about Bird?

We asked GM Brian Cashman that on Saturday.

His answer wasn't surprising.

"No," Cashman replied. "He's always been someone that ... he's got a gift. He can really hit."

Bird has hit for a decent average and power everywhere he's been, including his rookie season in the bigs when he hit .261 with 11 homers in 61 games late into the 2015 season.

Ever since, the Yankees have waited for more patiently ... very, very patiently. Bird missed all of 2016 recovering from offseason shoulder surgery, then after raking all spring last year, he fouled a pitch off his foot in late March and it led into a 6-for-60 start at the plate In the regular season, then most of the year on the DL.

Bird returned late to provide some big hits in September and in the postseason, and that only added fuel to management's belief that better days are coming. The Yankees think this guy can be a star, and they might be right because he has a pretty left-handed swing that is perfect to hit a ton of homers over the short right field porch at Yankee Stadium.

From what we've seen in glimpses, Bird looks capable of hitting .275 with 30 homers and 100 RBIs if he plays 140-to-150 games.

But now everyone is back to waiting for Bird to get into a groove and finally put up big numbers in-season.

Bird was 0-for-2 with a strikeout against Detroit in his first spring game on Feb. 23 and that led into a 1-for-12 start in his first six. Heading into Sunday, he's hitless in six at-bats over two games and coming off a bad Friday night against the Atlanta Braves in Celebration, Fla., a game in which he was 0-for-4 with three strikeouts and stranded seven baserunners.

Time to worry?

The Yankees say no.

"Knowing what he's done for quite some time from the minor leagues all the way up ... I don't ever have to worry about him with a bat in his hand," Cashman said.

Randy Miller may be reached at rmiller@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @RandyJMiller. Find NJ.com on Facebook.