In Sunday’s win against the Brewers, Julio Borbon was shifted up in the order to fill the spot of a resting Ian Kinsler. Borbon hadn’t seen the top half of the order in a while and he definitely put in a solid performance in the two-hole: 2H, 1R and 2RBI on a couple doubles.
It’s unlikely that Borbon will be able to permanently crack the top-half of the order that consists of Andrus, Young, Kinsler, Hamilton and Guerrero but his left-handed bat would be an asset between the all-righty triumvirate that leads off.
When Nelson Cruz returns, almost all of the Rangers’ pop comes from the right side with only Josh Hamilton, Justin Smoak and Julio Bourbon being primarily lefties at the dish. For many managers, this is a good enough reason to find a way for Borbon to break up a run of righties, especially as the season progresses.
Of course, all this would be meaningless if not for Borbon’s recent resurgence. After an April in which Borbon hit a paltry .191, he’s gradually improved, hitting .278 in May before tearing the skin off the ball in June en route to a .462 average. Borbon still views a walk as if it were the plague but he’s already matched his previous two months and June isn’t even half over. I’m not sure how much we can celebrate Borbon posting one walk in three consecutive months but small steps people, small steps. We’re getting to the point where Borbon’s 2% walk-rate is becoming statistically significant but it’s still quite plausible that he’ll post a ZiPS predicted 5.1% BB-Rate for the rest of the year.
Borbon obviously needs to get on base in order to put his blazing speed to use; something he hasn’t been doing despite posting a .463 OBP on the strength of a .514 BABIP in June. In 2010 thus far, Borbon has played in 10 more games than 2009 yet has stolen almost half as many bases.
At this point, rostering Julio Borbon is a bit of a gamble but he’s still owned in under 30% of Yahoo! Leagues. In deeper leagues, it’s definitely a gamble worth taking despite Borbon’s free-swinging ways (40% O-Swing) and poor BB-Rate (1.6%). I’m a firm believer that with confidence comes a return to patience: Now that Borbon isn’t swinging away for a job, he’s more likely to wait for something to happen rather than forcing it to happen.
If this gamble pays off, you’ll get around a stolen base or two per week for the rest of the season which should put Borbon around the 30SB mark. Expecting a batting average over .300 is probably pushing it but Borbon should be able to come within shouting distance of the number with a little bit of luck — .290 sound fair?
