How Long is the Leash on Bourn???

by Stros Bro on Jun 6, 2008 9:18 PM CDT Comment 6 comments

As you all know, the Astros just sent J.R. Towles down to AAA Round Rock due to his ineffectiveness at the plate and brought up Humberto Quintero. The Astros still have at least one player (in my opinion) that they need to make a move on... they need to either send Bourn down to the minors and get him some steady playing time where it's not going to kill the big league team, or keep him on the Astros as a bench player. I suggest sending him down. Bourn needs playing time but we can't afford him to get that playing time with the Astros. I mean he is supposed to be our lead-off hitter of the future, but his OBP is about .100 below what a good lead off hitter should be. He doesn't take enough walks and he strikes out WAY too often. When he gets on base he's fantastic... he even leads the NL in stolen bases. He just doesn't get on enough to be of any use as a lead off hitter. Like Towles, his defense isn't a problem. He can play big league defense... he just can't hit. You can see his full stats below.

	G	AB	R	H	2B	3B	HR	RBI	BB	K	SB	CS	AVG	OBP	SLG
2008 - Michael Bourn	57	215	23	46	3	3	3	10	18	51	24	4	.214	.274	.298

I wouldn't have as big of a problem with Bourn staying on the Astros if they didn't have a better option... but the problem for Bourn sits on our bench. His name is Darin Erstad. Erstad has been pretty good in his limited at bats. Erstad in just under 1/3 as many AB's as Bourn has 1/2 as many hits, 2 more RBI's, 10 less runs scored and exactly as many extra base hits. Not bad for a guy with 140 less at bats.

	G	AB	R	H	2B	3B	HR	RBI	BB	K	SB	CS	AVG	OBP	SLG
2008 - Darin Erstad	51	75	13	23	8	0	1	12	2	14	1	2	.307	.325	.453

So what do you think? Do we continue with the Bourn experiment?? Or do we try and field the best team we can possible and start the better player?

Poll

What to do with Bourn

Keep him starting

14 votes

Bench him in favor of another player

12 votes

Send him down

11 votes

Something else(explain)

3 votes

40 votes | Poll has closed

0 recs | Comment 6 comments

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Comments

Bench Bourn

Erstad has the average and three gold gloves.

This should be a no-brainer.

by pel on Jun 6, 2008 11:43 PM CDT reply actions 0 recs

We have Abercrombie now to ride the bench.

Let Bourn get his starts in AAA and give the starting nod to Erstad.

by entropic soul on Jun 7, 2008 3:02 AM CDT reply actions 0 recs

Abercrombie doesn't really fit the profile of a bench player....

He strikes out a lot, and probably has to have some starts to hit decently. I would start off platooning Bourn and Abercrombie. If Bourn doesn’t show signs of recovering real quickly, then I would move to an Erstad/Abercrombie platoon. Keep in mind that Erstad, himself, said (when he signed) that he is no longer able to be a starting outfielder. At this point in his career, Erstad should not bat regularly against LH pitchers. I think one of the reasons that his offense has been so consistent is that the Astros have confined him to RHP (he has only 5 at bats against lefthanders, which he handled fine, but his career numbers indicate that he is much better against righties).

by clack on Jun 7, 2008 8:46 AM CDT reply actions 0 recs

Ortiz's blog in the Chronicle...

says that Coop might change Bourn’s lineup spot:

On another move that might be coming, Cecil Cooper admitted that he has considered moving Michael Bourn from the leadoff spot.
It appears as though Hunter Pence might be leading off more for the Astros, and that should be a good move.

by clack on Jun 7, 2008 9:46 AM CDT reply actions 0 recs

Erstad

is playing well, but at his age and with his injury history in recent years, he’s probably not an everyday player. How about 2/3 of the starts to Erstad, 1/3 to Bourn until Bourn begins to show improvement? Or 50/50?

I don’t think Bourn in the minors accomplishes anything. He’s done his time in AAA in the Phillies org. & doesn’t have much to prove there. He’s a decent AAA hitter. The only question Bourn has to answer is, can he hit major league pitching? That can’t be answered unless Bourn continues to see some major league at bats.

There is a bright side to the '08 season.
Barry Bonds & Roger Clemens are out of baseball.

by maris61 on Jun 8, 2008 8:55 AM CDT reply actions 0 recs

Erstad and Bourn are both LHBers.

Abercrombie should get the starts against LHP. Perhaps Erstad and Bourn could have some kind of sharing of the starts against RHP. However, if Bourn continues what he started in last night’s game, I suspect he gets most of the starts.

by clack on Jun 8, 2008 10:31 AM CDT up reply actions 0 recs

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