How Bad is Michael Bourn?

Michael Bourn finally got a gig as the Astros starting center fielder and stole 41 bases in 477 at-bats last year. How bad could a guy who plays everyday really be?

Pretty bad.

As a prospect, Bourn never hit for much power, posting a .392 slugging pct. in 4 minor league seasons. While he struggled to hit for power, Bourn did have electrifying speed, stealing 164 bases in the minors, and on good base skills, compiling a .377 OBP. When he reached Philadelphia in 2007, it appeared that Bourn could become a successful leadoff man.

After being released by Philadelphia in the off-season, Bourn signed with Houston and won the centerfield job in spring training. Over the 2008 season he produced one of the worst lines in recent memory.

5 HR, 29 RBI, .229/.288/.300

It gets worse, Bourn hit only 10 doubles all year. For comparisons sake, Dustin Pedroia hit 10 doubles the week of April 20th. In fact, the last player to hit 10 or less doubles with at least 450 at-bats is Eric Yielding, who hit 9 in 1990.

Instead of "how bad is Michael Bourn?" maybe a better question would be "how did the Astros let Bourn play all season?"

Seasons like this don't come along all that often because usually if a player is performing as badly as Bourn, they are benched by coaches, or released by general managers, or run out of town by angry mobs.

It appears Michael Bourn does not yet have the skills necessary to become a successful lead-off man in the major leagues. He has tremendous speed, but, as the old adage goes, "you can't steal first base." Look for Bourn to have a much more limited role in the Astros offense (if any) in 2009.