Veterans Bourgeois, Gotay steady forces at top of Bats order

With the 2014 campaign entering the stretch run, the Louisville Bats find themselves within striking distance in the International League West division race with just over a month left in the season. Louisville has remained competitive this season despite a roster that has remained in flux since Opening Night, and one of the primary reasons has been consistent play of a pair of journeymen at the top of their batting order, Jason Bourgeois and Ruben Gotay.

Already this season, partly due to a slew of injuries in Cincinnati, Louisville has had more players see the field and made more transactions than they did all of last year. Although the pieces around them have constantly changed, Bourgeois and Gotay have been fixtures for the Bats, appearing in more games than any other players, and leading the squad in most offensive categories.

Bourgeois, a right-handed hitting outfielder, has been a lynchpin at the top of Bats order since Opening Night, primarily hitting leadoff and playing center field. Thanks to some hot recent hitting that includes a .333 mark in July, Bourgeois leads the team with 119 hits and a .290 batting average. In true leadoff man fashion, Bourgeois has also shown himself to be the team's fleetest of foot, stealing 18 bases, which is twice as many as the team's next highest total.

The best, and most opportune, display of Bourgeois' wheels this season may have come on June 14 when he stole home as part of a double steal, the lone run in a 1-0 victory over Gwinnett. Bourgeois was also instrumental in a victory just this past week, when his walk-off double powered the Bats to a 6-5 victory over Columbus. Bourgeois' walk-off hit came on the heels of a 4-for-4 stat line the previous night, and he now has 35 multi-hit games on the season, tops on the club.

Gotay, who has been Louisville's best power hitter in 2014, was named an IL All-Star at midseason, and currently leads the team with 15 home runs. The club has seen the pop in Gotay's bat since very early in the year, when the switch-hitter homered from both sides of the plate in the fourth game of the season. After a torrid start to the year at the plate, Gotay solidified his spot near the top of the Bats lineup card, and typically hits second or third behind fellow veteran Bourgeois. Gotay also owns the team's only 5-RBI game this season, a feat he accomplished on May 5 in a 10-5 win over Norfolk.

Gotay, who leads the league with 71 runs scored, also hangs his hat on some versatile defense. Bats' manager Jim Riggleman has started Gotay at second base, third base and left field this season. While the majority of Gotay's starts have been at second, he has moved around the diamond to accommodate the team's high turnover.

This is the ninth franchise that Gotay and Bourgeois each have played for, but the veterans have been integral in their first season with the Reds' organization after signing as free agents in the winter. The duo has been the team's most consistent offensive weapons, and although both are over 31 years of age, they have stayed healthy.

If the injuries in Cincinnati were to continue to mount and Gotay or Bourgeois were transferred to the 40-man roster and sent to Cincinnati, the big leagues would be a place where neither player is a stranger. Bourgeois has played with five big league clubs, with his best season coming in 2011 when he hit .294 in 93 games for the Astros. Gotay logged major time with three clubs from 2004 through 2008, recording at least 100 at-bats with the Royals, Mets, and Braves.

As the Bats continue their climb to try and get to the top of the divisional standings over the season's final month, Gotay and Bourgeois figure to be staples in the lineup, leading the team's younger players during the playoff push.