Braves' Player Recap: Michael Bourn

Today for the Braves' recap center fielder Michael Bourn will be discussed.
Bourn broke into the majors back in 2006 with the Philadelphia Phillies. He was acquired mid-way through the season in 2011 by the Braves, so 2012 marked his first full year with the club. Bourn is a speedster on the bases and is a great defender in the center field.
He had a superb season going in the first half. One of his best games came against the Cincinnati Reds on May 22nd. He had three hits in the game, a double and two home runs and drove in two runs. It was definitely a difference for him as Bourn has never been known as being a power hitter. He made the All-Star team in July, but after that, Bourn's season turned for the worse.
On May 15th, Bourn had a batting average of .340, which is great for a lead off hitter, it means he was getting on base and giving the team a chance to score runs. That was exactly why the Braves got Bourn almost a year earlier. Bourn's average slowly declined, but even on July 15th he was still batting .311. Bourn had a complete fall out after that and ended the year batting .274, which isn't horrible, but when he is the lead off hitter, you need something higher than .274. Bourn's average fell over sixty points in the last four months of the season. Since he didn't get hits, the Braves had nobody to drive in, which equals less runs being scored.
Another failure for Bourn, he struck out 53 times over the last two months of the year, that's basically once a game. His biggest whiff during the season came in the wild card game against the Cardinals, as he came to bat in the bottom of the eighth and struck out with the bases loaded. He just seemed to lose his eye for the ball as the season went on.
He finished the year with a .274 batting average, and career highs with nine home runs and 57 RBI's. He also stole 42 bases, but that was 19 less than last year when he stole 61 combined for the Braves and Astros.
Michael Bourn is a great player and great center fielder, but he isn't worth what he will demand on the free agent market this winter. His agent is Scott Boras, who is known throughout baseball for being the toughest agent to do business with. Boras always wants too much money for his clients.
Braves' general manager Frank Wren says re-signing Bourn is a key priority, but the Braves should really think about this one. He showed last year he can't be consistent. Due to his first half this past season though, Bourn is going to make big bucks. Hopefully it's somewhere other than Atlanta.