David Murphy does a nice job summing up the Phillies acquisition of Justin Bour, and the Phillies trades this season in general:
It isn’t easy to improve a roster without sacrificing prospects or future payroll space, but that’s what the Phillies have managed to do over the last month. Asdrubal Cabrera, Wilson Ramos and Bour might not have the impact of a Manny Machado or a front-line starting pitcher, but by acquiring them the Phillies have netted themselves statistically significant improvements at first base, short stop and, presumably, catcher, with a trickle-down improvement to the bench.
In his career as a pinch-hitter, Bour is 14-for-56 with five home runs and 10 walks (.894 OPS), but he should get plenty of opportunities against starters, given Carlos Santana’s diminished power production from the left side of the plate this season. Not only does has he shown more power against righties than Santana this season (a .475 slugging percentage vs. Santana’s .387), but his on base percentage is nearly even (.360 to .362). Plus, on days that Bour starts against a righty, Kapler will have the option of subbing in a switch-hitter once the game gets tot he bullpen and an opponent calls on a lefty specialist (Bour has a .590 OPS against southpaws this season).
Bour is a nice veteran pickup on a fairly young team that matured into a winner faster than expected.
from baseballmusings.com https://ift.tt/2MCFSRN
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