The Bourn Effect

As the MLB trade deadline approached, Braves fans had to be getting quite frustrated. The supposed top targets were coming off the board to our biggest competitors in the NL. Beltran to the Giants. Pence to the Phillies. I think the only two names out there that would still satisfy Braves fans on Sunday was Quentin and Bourn. Chicago decided to hang on to Quentin, which made Bourn the main target for Frank Wren. The rest is history as the Braves traded Schafer, and 3 mid-tier minor leaguers for the leadoff man they have missed over the last 5 years.

The question now is will this move be enough to push the Braves into October? Bourn brings a different dynamic to the table, adding gold-glove defense, along with a solid bad and blazing speed on the basepaths, something the Braves were severely lacking. It may be a few weeks before we actually see what Bourn does for this team due to injuries to McCann and Chipper, but once we get a full lineup, I expect some big things. Simple things that Bourn does on the offensive end were on display Wednesday night. With the Braves needing a win after losing the first two in Washington, Bourn singled in the first inning to lead off the game. His 40th stolen base of the season put him on 2nd with nobody out. A Prado groundball out to the first base gets him to 3rd, where pretty much any contact, basehit, flyball, etc. will score him. A Freeman groundout to 2nd scores Bourn and the Braves go up 1-0 in a crucial game. Any other player on the Braves roster would have not stolen 2nd, and would have been doubled up on Prado's grounder. With the speed, Bourn changed the game and got the Braves off to the start they needed. Opposing pitchers know Bourn's speed and will be focused on him when he's on the basepaths. If Bourn runs on an off-speed pitch, it is an automatic stolen base. Due to this, I expect Prado, Chipper, Mac, Uggla, and Freeman to get more fastballs when Bourn is on base. This will increase production from the middle of the order. Simple chaos caused by speed. When measuring this trade down the road, people will look at Bourn's stats to decide if it was a success or not, but I think you should couple that with the stats of the guys in the lineup behind him. The Bourn Effect will translate into production from the middle of our order. The Bourn Effect: Will it be enough to propel the Braves into October baseball? Yes. Will it be enough to defeat the Giants or Phillies in October? To be determined.

Any thoughts?