Chris Burke

Full Name: Christopher Allen Burke	Primary Position: OF,LF,2B,CF
Height/Weight: 5' 11"/180	First Game: July 4, 2004
Birthdate: March 11, 1980	MLB Experience: 3 years
Birthplace: Louisville, Kentucky
Bat/Throw: Right/Right

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	AVG
2004	HOU	N	2B	7	2	25.2	7	15	0	3	1.000
2005	HOU	N	OF	84	75	647	121	3	1	1	.992
2005	HOU	N	CF	6	1	13	1	0	0	0	1.000
2005	HOU	N	LF	83	74	634	120	3	1	1	.992
2005	HOU	N	2B	18	7	80.1	15	24	0	5	1.000
2006	HOU	N	CF	38	36	284.1	72	2	1	0	.987
2006	HOU	N	RF	7	3	31.2	10	0	0	0	1.000
2006	HOU	N	2B	69	32	345.2	68	117	5	26	.974
2006	HOU	N	LF	19	13	119	14	0	0	0	1.000
2006	HOU	N	OF	61	52	435	96	2	1	0	.990
2006	HOU	N	SS	8	3	31.2	2	8	1	1	.909
2007	HOU	N	2B	58	31	311	56	103	3	17	.981
2007	HOU	N	OF	47	39	349	81	3	2	1	.977
2007	HOU	N	CF	26	23	201	50	1	1	1	.981
2007	HOU	N	RF	20	15	132	26	1	1	1	.964
2007	HOU	N	SS	7	1	24	3	9	0	0	1.000
2007	HOU	N	LF	3	1	16	5	1	0	0	1.000
2008	ARI	N	OF	26	20	179	52	1	0	0	1.000
2008	ARI	N	LF	18	13	116.1	43	1	0	0	1.000
2008	ARI	N	2B	18	9	92	21	34	0	7	1.000
2008	ARI	N	RF	9	7	62.2	9	0	0	0	1.000
2008	ARI	N	1B	9	6	63	67	4	0	6	1.000
2008	ARI	N	3B	4	2	20	2	5	0	0	1.000
2008	ARI	N	SS	2	2	13.2	2	4	1	2	.857
2008	ARI	N	DH	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	.000
Total			LF	123	101	885.1	182	5	1	1	.995
Total			SS	17	6	69.1	7	21	2	3	.933
Total			2B	170	81	854.2	167	293	8	58	.983
Total			OF	218	186	1610	350	9	2	2	.989
Total			CF	70	60	498.1	123	3	2	0	.984
Total			RF	36	25	226.1	45	1	1	1	.979
Total			DH	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	.000
Total			3B	4	2	20	2	5	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.