Last year, center fielder Billy Burns surprised everyone with an extremely successful rookie season. Before the start of 2015, most people expected that the outfielder would rely solely on his speed to earn and keep a spot on the major league roster. His ability to steal bases and cover a lot of ground in center field seemed to make him an ideal pinch runner or fourth outfielder. That was exactly how the Athletics used him when he made his major league debut in 2014, appearing in 13 games.
FanGraphs concurred with this general opinion, and also predicted that the speedy Burns would get about 300 plate appearances in 2015.