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Biography
Chris Burke (Christopher Allen Burke) was born on March 11, 1980 in Louisville, Kentucky. He made his Major League debut on July 4, 2004 for the Houston Astros. In 2005, his rookie year, he hit .248 with 5 home runs and 26 RBI. Burke played for the Houston Astros for his entire 3 year career.
Scouting Report
Hitting
Burke is a line drive gap hitter in the mold of Craig Biggio. He has decent home run power but most of his damage is done gap-to-gap. He has a good approach at the plate, content to wait for a pitch he can drive and rarely chasing a bad ball. He's aggressive in the strike zone which sometimes causes him to chase borderline strikes and weakly ground out or pop up.
Baserunning and Defense
Burke has the speed and baserunning instincts to develop into an annual 20-stolen base threat. He needs to work on reading pitchers, as all young players do, in order to get better jumps. His baserunning instincts are good, not great, but his speed can often bail him out of any mistakes he may make. He's aggressive on the bases, going for the extra base at nearly every opportunity.
Burke played shortstop in college but lacked the arm strength to play there in the pros, so he was moved to second base. He didn't lose his range, however, and projects to be an excellent defensive second baseman. He has soft hands and average arm strength, and his speed will help him on pop ups.
Overall
Burke figures to take over for Biggio at second base when he hangs up the spikes. Burke is built very similarly to Biggio and is projected to be the same type of player. Burke plays the game hard which should endear him to the Houston crowds the same way his predecessor did.
Statistics
Batting Stats
| Year | Team | G | AB | R | H | HR | RBI | AVG | OBP | SLG | 2B | 3B | BB | SO | HBP | SH | SB | IBB | GDP | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2004 | HOU | N | 17 | 17 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | .059 | .200 | .059 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 2005 | HOU | N | 108 | 318 | 49 | 79 | 5 | 26 | .248 | .309 | .368 | 19 | 2 | 23 | 62 | 6 | 9 | 11 | 0 | 7 |
| 2006 | HOU | N | 123 | 366 | 58 | 101 | 9 | 40 | .276 | .347 | .418 | 23 | 1 | 27 | 77 | 14 | 4 | 11 | 0 | 6 |
| 2007 | HOU | N | 111 | 319 | 39 | 73 | 6 | 28 | .229 | .304 | .357 | 19 | 2 | 27 | 52 | 8 | 8 | 9 | 1 | 10 |
| 2008 | ARI | N | 86 | 165 | 20 | 32 | 2 | 12 | .194 | .310 | .273 | 5 | 1 | 27 | 33 | 2 | 2 | 5 | 8 | 2 |
| Total | 445 | 1185 | 168 | 286 | 22 | 106 | .241 | .318 | .363 | 66 | 6 | 107 | 227 | 30 | 23 | 36 | 9 | 25 |
Fielding Stats
| Year | Team | POS | G | GS | INN | PO | A | ERR | DP | TP | PB | SB | CS | PkO | AVG | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2004 | HOU | N | 2B | 7 | 2 | 25.2 | 7 | 15 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1.000 |
| 2005 | HOU | N | OF | 84 | 75 | 647 | 121 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .992 |
| 2005 | HOU | N | CF | 6 | 1 | 13 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1.000 |
| 2005 | HOU | N | LF | 83 | 74 | 634 | 120 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .992 |
| 2005 | HOU | N | 2B | 18 | 7 | 80.1 | 15 | 24 | 0 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1.000 |
| 2006 | HOU | N | CF | 38 | 36 | 284.1 | 72 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .987 |
| 2006 | HOU | N | RF | 7 | 3 | 31.2 | 10 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1.000 |
| 2006 | HOU | N | 2B | 69 | 32 | 345.2 | 68 | 117 | 5 | 26 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .974 |
| 2006 | HOU | N | LF | 19 | 13 | 119 | 14 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1.000 |
| 2006 | HOU | N | OF | 61 | 52 | 435 | 96 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .990 |
| 2006 | HOU | N | SS | 8 | 3 | 31.2 | 2 | 8 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .909 |
| 2007 | HOU | N | 2B | 58 | 31 | 311 | 56 | 103 | 3 | 17 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .981 |
| 2007 | HOU | N | OF | 47 | 39 | 349 | 81 | 3 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .977 |
| 2007 | HOU | N | CF | 26 | 23 | 201 | 50 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .981 |
| 2007 | HOU | N | RF | 20 | 15 | 132 | 26 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .964 |
| 2007 | HOU | N | SS | 7 | 1 | 24 | 3 | 9 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1.000 |
| 2007 | HOU | N | LF | 3 | 1 | 16 | 5 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1.000 |
| 2008 | ARI | N | OF | 26 | 20 | 179 | 52 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1.000 |
| 2008 | ARI | N | LF | 18 | 13 | 116.1 | 43 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1.000 |
| 2008 | ARI | N | 2B | 18 | 9 | 92 | 21 | 34 | 0 | 7 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1.000 |
| 2008 | ARI | N | RF | 9 | 7 | 62.2 | 9 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1.000 |
| 2008 | ARI | N | 1B | 9 | 6 | 63 | 67 | 4 | 0 | 6 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1.000 |
| 2008 | ARI | N | 3B | 4 | 2 | 20 | 2 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1.000 |
| 2008 | ARI | N | SS | 2 | 2 | 13.2 | 2 | 4 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .857 |
| 2008 | ARI | N | DH | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .000 |
| Total | LF | 123 | 101 | 885.1 | 182 | 5 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .995 | ||
| Total | SS | 17 | 6 | 69.1 | 7 | 21 | 2 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .933 | ||
| Total | 2B | 170 | 81 | 854.2 | 167 | 293 | 8 | 58 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .983 | ||
| Total | OF | 218 | 186 | 1610 | 350 | 9 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .989 | ||
| Total | CF | 70 | 60 | 498.1 | 123 | 3 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .984 | ||
| Total | RF | 36 | 25 | 226.1 | 45 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .979 | ||
| Total | DH | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .000 | ||
| Total | 3B | 4 | 2 | 20 | 2 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1.000 |
Transactions
- Selected by Houston Astros in the 1st round (10th pick overall) of the free-agent draft (June 5, 2001 - signed June 22, 2001).
Trivia
- Attended the University of Tennessee.
