Stop the Roller Coaster, I'm Getting Nauseous!
First and foremost, I do not now, nor have I ever, liked roller coasters. I have altitude and motion sickness that prevents me from even climbing a mountain. It sucks, but I've learned to live with it.
But I digress....this article is not about me. This is about the constant back and forth about whether Evan Gattis will do well with the Astros or not. Just when I come across articles giving Evan his due praise for how he handles himself in the game, like this....
by Jacob Young
But I digress....this article is not about me. This is about the constant back and forth about whether Evan Gattis will do well with the Astros or not. Just when I come across articles giving Evan his due praise for how he handles himself in the game, like this....
Evan Gattis Dangerous for Houston Astros' Opponents
The Houston Astros made several moves during the offseason, but none will pay bigger dividends than the acquisition of Evan Gattis. Making a return to his home state, “El Oso Blanco” enters a revamped lineup in which more at-bats and less time behind the plate make him a very dangerous asset within the AL West.
Playing out the second year of his incredible comeback story, Gattis began last season as the Atlanta Braves’ starting catcher, but struggled to find consistency with a recurring back injury. Gattis did hit .263 with 22 homers and 65 runs driven in, but there’s little doubt the bad back hampered productivity while limiting him to 108 games.
The good news for Astros fans is that Gattis will hardly see time behind the plate in 2015. Already committed to Jason Castro as the starter and Hank Conger as a backup, Houston will maximize Gattis’ bat by keeping his 6-foot-4 and 260 pound frame out from behind the dish and hopefully in fair health.
Gattis initially figured to take over a starting role in left field. However, Colby Rasmushas since been signed and suddenly the Astros have a bit of a logjam in their outfield. If he does not take on left field duties, Gattis could likely serve as the occasional designated hitter. The 28-year old is probably best served in the DH role, even if it means Chris Carter becomes the odd man out versus right-handed starting pitchers.
The best case scenario for the Astros is a three-headed monster featuring Gattis, Carter, and Jon Singleton as the heart of their lineup. The three posted 79 homers in 331 games last season and an average combined .486 slugging percentage. Where and how Houston manages to fit all three into the lineup is still an issue, but undoubtedly a good one to have.Gattis admitted he was more of a Texas Rangers fan while growing up, but come the end of the season, he should be madly in love with Minute Maid Park. After flashing his power at the pitcher-friendly confines of Turner Field, he moves onto Houston where his big, right-handed bat is bound to thrive. The average Evan Gattis fly ball pushed 300.63 feet last season, a number way ahead of the league average. Playing at Minute Maid, he should have no problems accumulating cheap homers down the 315-foot foul line to the left field wall.
The Astros parted with three solid prospects in order to bring “El Oso Blanco” to Houston. General Manager Jeff Lunhow understands that an explosive offense can be exactly what Houston needs to see success in 2015.
Can the Astros mimic the Cinderella story of last season’s Kansas City Royals? If so, you can bet Evan Gattis will be right in the middle of it.
And in depth ones, like this one....
Tough times behind him, Gattis grateful for MLB career
New Astros slugger battled depression, substance abuse before turning life around
The fact Gattis has formed the solid beginnings of a Major League career is a testament to his resolve and a credit to those who've supported him. There was depression, substance abuse and thoughts of suicide -- all of which, looking back, have made Gattis stronger.
"To be honest with you, I don't think about it too much," Gattis said. "I know it's changed me as a person. I just learned some life lessons and took some time off and figured some stuff out about myself. It definitely was a bad time. There's been rough times. I don't know how to quantify it. It's definitely behind me."
Gattis, 28, brings some tantalizing power potential to the Astros, who are hoping to team him with George Springer, Chris Carter and fellow newcomerColby Rasmus to bring thunder to the lineup. Gattis hit 43 homers in 213 games with the Braves the past two seasons, battling back and knee injuries along the way.
A new home equals a new start for Gattis, who knows how fortunate he is to be playing in the Major Leagues.
"It's exciting, it's awesome," he said. "Sometimes I feel like I have to pinch myself. It's unbelievable. I love it and I think I appreciate it more than somebody who expected it. That was never really there for me. For years, I didn't think about baseball."
Gattis appeared destined for success when he signed a letter of intent to play for Texas A&M out of Dallas Bishop Lynch High School in 2004. That was after he turned down an offer to play for defending national champion Rice because he wanted to be a catcher and not play first base.
His fear of not succeeding and potentially failing a drug test ultimately led him to pass on the opportunity of playing at A&M. He wound up in drug rehab for a month and then to Prescott, Ariz., for three months of outpatient treatment. He was eventually diagnosed with depression.
A fear of failure on the baseball diamond led to alcohol and marijuana abuse.
"I never wanted to be the guy who wasted his talent away on this or that because of pot or alcohol or something like that," he said. "I didn't want to be the guy that messed up, so I was afraid of that. That being said, I never let myself fail."
But Gattis said not showing up at A&M and not wanting to fail on the field was failure in its worst form.
"I was a scared kid that smoked too much pot, a 17-year-old," he said. "I never really gave myself a chance to fail, so really the big thing was coming back and playing and kind of go face these fears and kind of march back into it. At least if I fail, I'll be a success just to go do it instead of chickening out or just being afraid." Houston
Gattis returned to Dallas in 2006 and spent some time as both a cook and a valet. When he visited his sister in Colorado, he fell in love with the environment and became a ski-lift operator and a housekeeper at a hostel. He was out of the game for four years.
He constantly sought advice from spiritual advisers and ultimately opted to drive to Santa Cruz, Calif., to interact with one of these advisers.
"I met a guy named John Wheeler … and for whatever reason, that was the guy that helped me the most," he said.
Gattis rediscovered his passion for baseball, and wound up joining his stepbrother at University of Texas-Permian Basin. Despite his time away from the game, Gattis was selected in the 23rd round by the Braves in the 2010 First-Year Player Draft.
Soon, tales of Gattis' mammoth homers in extended Spring Training were becoming the stuff of legend. He was promoted to Class A Rome during the 2011 season and hit 22 home runs with a South Atlantic League-best .322 batting average in 88 games. In 2012, he combined to hit .305 with 18 home runs while primarily playing for Class A Advanced Lynchburg and Double-A Mississippi.
Following the 2012 season, Gattis hit .303 with 16 home runs and a .595 slugging percentage in 53 games during the Venezuelan Winter League. In the process, the 6-foot-4, 240-pound catcher became a fan favorite and gained the nickname "El Oso Blanco," which translates to "The White Bear."
The story seems almost too good to be true, but it's not. Gattis was there. He remembers it all.
"I get goose bumps telling the story, but why not?" he said. "I was really excited. I was driven, I was motivated. It's hard to talk about, but it was awesome."
I then come across articles being overly critical of him, like this....
BIGGEST MISTAKES FROM THE MLB OFFSEASON
by Jacob Young
Don't look now, but the MLB offseason is almost over. Granted, there are still free agents such as James Shields remaining, and likely a few players changing jerseys via trade before the season starts, but Spring Trainings is less than a month away. We've had a busy offseason, so let's look at the top three major mistakes made by Major League clubs to this point in the offseason.
Mistake: The Astros Trade for Evan Gattis
The Atlanta Braves had all but begged teams to take OF/C Evan Gattis off their hand when the Houston Astros came calling. They offered the Braves three highly regarded prospects in right-hander Mike Foltynewicz, third baseman Rio Ruiz and right-hander Andrew Thurman. That's a lot just to bring in Evan Gattis.
Now, maybe you go out and bring in Gattis for closer to what he's worth, but the Astros just flatout over payed for what I consider an average player. The Astros have always been one of those "we'll win when our prospects are developed" teams, and while this was a bad move, maybe it's sign of a new approach from the Astros' front office.
And this one....
Ranking MLB Offseason's Biggest Steals, Mistakes Entering February
By Jason Catania,
No. 4 Biggest Mistake: The Astros Trade for Evan Gattis
This is one of those deals that could go down as a "steal" for one side (the Atlanta Braves) but fits better as a mistake for the other, the Houston Astros.
That's because giving up three highly regarded prospects in right-hander Mike Foltynewicz, who already has reached the majors, third baseman Rio Ruiz and righty Andrew Thurman, a 2013 second-rounder, was rather a lot just to snag Evan Gattis.
Granted, the former Brave possesses plenty of power (43 homers in his first two seasons) and is under control for four more years, but Gattis also has proved to be injury prone and limited defensively, as well as in getting on base (.304 career OBP) and making contact.
That all-or-nothing approach at the plate is becoming something more than a minor target in Houston, as David Golebiewski of Gammons Daily puts it:
In 2014, 30 MLB players hit at least 15 home runs while posting a walk-to-strikeout ratio below 0.4. The Astros now employ five of those strike zone-challenged sluggers: Chris Carter (37 home runs, 0.31 BB/K ratio), Evan Gattis (22 HR, 0.23 BB/K), George Springer (20 HR, 0.34 BB/K), Matt Dominguez (16 HR, 0.23 BB/K), and Rasmus, who popped 18 homers with a career-worst 0.23 BB/K during his “walk” year with the Toronto Blue Jays.
And that doesn't even count Jon Singleton, who had the highest strikeout rate (37.0 percent) among hitters with at least 300 plate appearances in 2014.
Even now that Gattis, who faked it at catcher and in left field with Atlanta, can spend time at designated hitter in the AL, this was an odd decision from an Astros club that is improving but not quite ready to get back to winning just yet.
Can someone please tell me when these assumptions about Evan will stop already??!! Can we not just let what he actually does and strives for when the season starts speak for itself??!! People are just awful sometimes, and I've genuinely come to that conclusion. Seems no one knows a genuine article, like Evan Gattis, when they see one. Sad, really.
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