Jason Bourgeois has cracked the major leagues the last two years and the 28-year-old utility player is hoping that he can make that three in a row as he looks to make the hometown Houston Astros.
Bourgeois was originally drafted by the Texas Rangers back in 2000 but he never quite hit enough to be considered a pivotal part of the organization. He found himself bouncing from Richmond (Atlanta) and San Antonio (Seattle) the next two years as part of waiver claims and the Rule 5 draft.
In 2007 he was picked up by the Chicago White Sox and suddenly things came together for him at the plate. He stuck with the team for the 2008 season earning a cup of coffee and then headed to Milwaukee for the 2009 season. At the Triple-A level he continued to hit for a good overage and found his way on base enough to again get a crack at the majors. Sadly he didn’t exactly produce and finds himself again looking to latch on.
In his minor league career he’s found himself lined up at every defensive position except catcher and while he may not be the best option at each position he does give a major league manager flexibility should he need to rest a player or complete a double switch.
The biggest obstacle for Bourgeois making the Astros appears to be the presence of Geoff Blum, a similarly tooled player, already on the roster. The injury to Lance Berkman likely leaves open one roster spot for either Chris Johnson or another non roster invitee but Bourgeois has yet to capitalize on the opportunity.
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With the recent news that Lance Berkman is out for the start of the season I almost certainly have to pick Chris Johnson as the Houston Astros non roster invitee. Johnson is actually hitting this spring with a .313 average and 2 home runs and three doubles in just 16 at-bats.
Of course the Astros signed Pedro Feliz to be their third basemen this season since well… Johnson didn’t exactly do himself any favors last spring or during his time with the team.
The simple solution may be to slide Feliz over to first base in Berkman’s absence allowing the Astros an extended chance to evaluate whether Johnson or Feliz is the answer at third base.
Personally even with Johnson’s hot spring numbers I’m not sure he’s much of a major league option. He’s shown inconsistencies at the plate, he can’t draw a walk and his power swing is only what you’d consider about average when you compare him to other players at the corners.
Then again I also picked him as the teams non roster invitee so there ya go.
Non-Roster Invitees | |||||||
Pitchers | B/T | Ht | Wt | DOB | |||
60 Josh Banks | R/R | 6-3 | 210 | 07/18/82 | |||
73 Gustavo Chacin | L/L | 5-11 | 205 | 11/04/80 | |||
62 Roy Corcoran | R/R | 5-10 | 185 | 05/11/80 | |||
41 Casey Daigle | R/R | 6-5 | 240 | 04/04/81 | |||
67 Chia-Jen Lo | R/R | 5-11 | 180 | 04/07/86 | |||
65 Shane Loux | R/R | 6-2 | 235 | 08/31/79 | |||
56 Gary Majewski | R/R | 6-2 | 215 | 02/26/80 | |||
Catchers | B/T | Ht | Wt | DOB | |||
36 Kevin Cash | R/R | 6-0 | 200 | 12/06/77 | |||
15 Jason Castro | L/R | 6-3 | 210 | 06/18/87 | |||
70 Brian Esposito | R/R | 6-1 | 190 | 02/24/79 | |||
72 Lou Santangelo | R/R | 6-1 | 205 | 03/16/83 | |||
Infielders | B/T | Ht | Wt | DOB | |||
64 Drew Meyer | L/R | 5-10 | 200 | 08/29/81 | |||
69 Oswaldo Navarro | R/R | 6-0 | 155 | 10/02/84 | |||
16 Chris Shelton | R/R | 6-0 | 215 | 06/26/80 | |||
Outfielders | B/T | Ht | Wt | DOB | |||
11 Jason Bourgeois | R/R | 5-9 | 190 | 01/04/82 | |||
66 Alex Romero | L/R | 6-0 | 200 | 09/09/83 | |||
26 Cory Sullivan | L/L | 6-0 | 200 | 08/20/79 |