St. Louis Cardinals: Peter Bourjos – Difference Maker

Last year, the St. Louis Cardinals acquired the speedy and excellent defender Peter Bourjos to play center field, while supposedly relegating Jon Jay to part time duty. It obviously didn’t work out that way. Bourjos struggled at the plate while Jay thrived.

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Well last night, in our win over the Phillies, we got an example of what could’ve been. I was lucky to catch the game on ESPN, and saw Bourjos in action. It was electrifying.

Bourjos went 2-4 with an RBI, flashed his speed by scoring from third on an infield tapper where he just beat the throw. aside from Billy Hamilton and maybe Jose Altuve, I doubt there’s anybody else currently playing that could’ve scored on that play. He also flashed the leather (and speed again) by making a catch on a drive by Chase Utley that not many other players could have caught up to.

I have to admit, I’ve been waiting a while to write this article. I’m a big Bourjos fan.

I like some aspects of Jon Jay’s game, good average, gets on base a lot, his defense has gotten better.

But this is the rare case where I don’t prefer the OBP guy. Shocking I know. There’s something about Bourjos combination of ultra fast speed and Gold Glove caliber defense. He didn’t hit last year though, and Jay did. I don’t blame the St. Louis Cardinals for starting Jon Jay last year or this year, but I do think Bourjos’ should have gotten a shot at the job in spring training.

You know the Reds fans really like Billy Hamilton. This is an under the radar version of that, since we have someone blocking the speedster.

Plus the combo of Heyward and Bourjos, if they were together in the long term, might save a *ton* of runs.

Jay is off to a slow start, hitting .246. If that continues or gets worse, maybe Bourjos will get more chances to show off his speed and defense.

As always, thanks for reading.