Peter Bourjos Player Projection No. 134

Key Stats: Peter Bourjos had 9 home runs and 8 steals in the last two months of the season. In August, he was the 22nd best player in all of Fantasy Baseball according to the Yahoo player rater. Bourjos is going to be 25 on Opening Day and was playing in his first full Major League season, so the fact that he was finishing strong is an encouraging sign. 

Skeptics Say: Bourjos had 3 home runs and 14 steals when it wasn't August and September. Those numbers can be found much further down in the draft board than pick number 134.

A 22.5% strikeout rate is generally frowned upon, but especially in the case of a burner like Bourjos. The fact that his walk rate is only 5.8% doesn't help matters either. That said, Bourjos will stick as a regular in the Angel lineup because of his skills defensively and because his offensive numbers were good enough last season. 

Peer Comparison: It's hard to see the emergence taking place sometimes on a player who has numbers that were very ordinary, but given the trajectory of his season and the numbers in the minor leagues it's possible that Bourjos takes a big leap forward this year. It's happened to others at around this stage in their careers.

Matt Holliday as a 24-year-old in his first full season: 65 R 14 HR 57 RBI .290 3 SBs  
Curtis Granderson as a 25-year-old in his first full season: 90 R 19 HR 68 RBI .260 8 SBs
Andrew McCutchen as a 22-year-old in his first full season: 74 R 12 HR 54 RBI .286 22 SBs
Torii Hunter as a 23-year-old in his first full season: 52 R 9 HR 35 RBI .255 10 SBs
Johnny Damon as a 22-year-old in his first full season: 61 R 6 HR 50 RBI .271 25 SBs 
Peter Bourjos as a 24-year-old in his first full season: 72 R 12 HR 43 RBI .272 22 SBs 
 
Lineup Outlook: Almost 75% of Bourjos' starts came as the Angels number eight or nine hitter in the order. Mike Scioscia is a smart manager, so for that to change Bourjos will have to be better than one of the two worst hitters on the team. The Angels should hit him up in the order when a lefty is on the hill since he hit about 80 points better than Erick Aybar against southpaws last year. The other low spot in the order will almost certainly go to the catcher. Besdies Aybar, the Angels still have Alberto Callaspo at third base. He could be a player that hits lower in the order and opens a spot up for Bourjos at or near the top. 

 

What They’re Saying: CBS Sportsline: #55 Outfielder; Tristan Cockcroft of ESPN.com: #39 Outfielder & #139 Overall; RotoChamp: Not Ranked in Top 300 

Projection: Bourjos will take another step forward and have appeal in leagues that enable you to keep players based on the round they were drafted in as well as auction keeper leagues. 
80 R 15 HR 50 RBI 27 SB .276 AVG .332 OBP .775 OPS