Peter Bourjos has arrived. The 23-year-old rookie is making a name for himself as fast as his legs can carry him, and that’s pretty damn fast. Bourjos has been compared to Carl Crawford, at least by footrace standards. He was formally introduced to the Los Angeles Angels fans for the first time on Monday when he started in his first game at Angel Stadium. Now, he’s already getting cheers from the crowd for his fantastic defensive skills and his jerseys are starting to sell. Not bad for a nine-game rookie.

Bourjos was a 10th round pick of the Angels in 2005 and two weeks short of five years after signing, made his major league debut on August 3rd with the big club. He has been anything but a hit so far, pun intended. Batting from the nine-hole, his average is .172. He has five singles, two doubles and three walks, but has scored four runs with two RBI. His minor league .293 average, 322 runs, 83 doubles and 50 triples indicate he can and eventually will be much better than what he’s showing now.

Those 50 triples in five minor league seasons show exactly what makes Bourjos special. He’s quick. As a center fielder, he’s expected to cover a lot of ground, and that’s exactly what he does. He’s not afraid to sacrifice his body by diving or jumping into the wall to make a play. Whether or not he makes that play is anyone’s guess, but it’s a part of Bourjos’s game that he’s working hard to improve on.

The kid looks like he can be great. The only drawback is the inevitability that someday soon he’ll be referred to as “Gorgeous Bourjos,” which just sounds ridiculous. Still with less than 10 games to his credit, he’s already taken over the starting center fielder position from Torii Hunter, who has been moved to right field. As a fleet-footed rookie in every sense of the word, not much is known about Bourjos yet, but it won’t be long before the league takes notice; the problem is that Bourjos will already have left them in his dust.