After
the Sox released Carlos Vasquez Wednesday, it opened a spot on the previously full 40-man roster. It
will likely remain vacant until after any potential trades (Joe Crede, et al) are hammered out, but Jason Bourgeois could
very well stake his claim if nobody else fills it.
Bourgeois had another big day at the plate from the leadoff spot,
reaching base three times (one single, two walks) and stealing three
bases in
today's 5-3 victory over the Cubs in Tucson.
On top of that, he also did the little things. With Juan Uribe on
second base, he shot an RBI single through the right side. He advanced to second on Kosuke Fukudome's throw home, and then took
another bag on Orlando Cabrera's flyout to left, taking advantage of
Matt Murton's poor position on the catch. He did miss one opportunity, popping out with runners on second and third and nobody out, but the positives outweighed the negatives.
During the broadcast, Kenny Williams joined Hawk Harrelson and Darrin
Jackson in the booth and noted that Bourgeois was a six-year
minor-league free agent and had the option of signing anywhere else in
the offseason, but chose to remain with the White Sox. The key points:
KW: "I said [to Bourgeois' agent, Dave Stewart], we like him, we said
we believe he could ultimately serve a purpose in a utility role with
us if something happens at the big-league level ... He's done nothing
but impress. First of all, I'm impressed that he made the decision to
come back -- a lot of guys wouldn't do that. They both had faith in us
that we would live up to our word and give him an opportunity. He's
now put himself in the mix if something happens to, let's say, an Ozuna
-- he's that type of player where he can come in and give you some
energy off the bench at various positions. [...]
Hawk: Well, to me, just watching him this spring, he's first man up if somebody goes down.
KW: Well, I couldn't argue with that as we sit here today.
After today's game, Bourgeois is hitting .353/.463/.441 with three doubles and a 2:1 walk strikeout ratio. Not to rain on his parade, but there are a couple reasons to qualify the excitement:
No. 1: Of his six walks, three have been on four pitches.
Last year, Bourgeois walked 45 times over 574 plate appearances over
his stints in Birmingham and Charlotte. That's acceptable for a guy who's not a home-run threat, but it's a little worse than
Jerry Owens' walk rate in the minors. Owens has walked about half as often in the big leagues, so nobody should expect Bourgeois to reach base nearly as easily as he's doing now.
No. 2: As far as I know, he's not a defensive whiz anywhere.
Bourgeois hasn't looked Rob Mackowiak Bad™ in center, but his lack of experience has shown at times. In today's game, he appeared to underestimate the stiff breeze to right field and let a high fly get past him in right center, and the wind also turned him around in the first week of spring.
I've
only seen him play second once -- that night, he couldn't glove a soft grounder, and the error led to three runs. In his defense, that was at Alliance Bank Stadium in Syracuse and its awful artificial turf. The plastic grass is no more, as they've replaced it with the real stuff for next season.
Still, although I offer some caveats, it's hard to knock anything Bourgeois has done in the past calendar year. He hit and ran in Birmingham, hit and ran even better in Charlotte, and now he's hitting and running his best in Tucson as we speak.
Since the Sox don't have to give him a roster spot, Williams will likely take advantage of his flexibility and wait until all other personnel moves have been addressed. But I'd wager to guess that before the All-Star break, Williams will reward Bourgeois for his loyalty.
Of course, stealing second and third in succession and with ease in
front of Williams, who was in the broadcast booth during the sixth inning, might help accelerate the
process a little.