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Honey, We're Shrinking the White Bear....AGAIN!

So I didn't think I was going to have to write a follow up to a a post I wrote back in May about one slump, but low and behold, here we are! It's no secret that the Houston Astros are in trouble. Having just lost 3 out of 4 to the Oakland Athletics this weekend, and being swept in the previous series with the Texas Rangers, the AL West lead is literally "shrinking" fast from this team. And the schedule does not get much easier, with the team going across the bay to begin a 2 game series with the World Champion, San Francisco Giants, tomorrow.

Unfortunately, our people's champion, Evan Gattis, is also in the midst of another slump at the plate. So much so, that A.J. Hinch kept him out of the lineup during Sunday afternoon's finale against the A's. It's understandable, since Evan himself could certainly use the rest to get back in gear.


I mean, this face kind of says it all as to his latest frustrations!

 But let me be frank, Astros Country, comments like the following do not help matters:

  • Bluedog10
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  • Rank 3388
Evan, are you smoking crack... Gattis is a complete joke of a DH. He best days are behind him.
  • 2 days ago
docholliday44
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  • docholliday44
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  • Rank 1017
@Bluedog10 he hasn't had any good days as far as I can tell.
  • 2 days ago
acouchcoach
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  • acouchcoach
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  • Rank 574
@Bluedog10 Evan did a real Texans warm and fuzzie on this one. 
Too bad - lotta stuff to talk about with this bat.
  • 2 days ago
docholliday44
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  • docholliday44
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  • Rank 1017
The infield groundout is a big part of Gattis game. I would say it's the main part but strikeouts take that honor.
  • 2 days ago
acouchcoach
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  • acouchcoach
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  • Rank 574
@docholliday44 I like that straight up and down little two footed bunny hop that goes along with strike three. Accompanied by the downtrodden walk off. Looks just like kid that was told no . 
Check it out - like clockwork. And you wont have to wait long.
  • 2 days ago (edited)
acouchcoach
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  • acouchcoach
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  • Rank 574
At least the TV guys have cut back in that silly ' RBI Machine' garbage. 
Haven't looked for a while but at one time he was MLB DH worst with RISP. 
His putrid .275 OBP says it all. That is not a feature bat.

A question for the podcast: What's wrong with Evan Gattis?

 Let's change subj. for fun name scramble Evan Gattis = test vagina
I think Evan Gattis' playing time needs to go down...he hits the best infield fungo in the league w/ men in scoring position.

 Evan Gattis is a rally killer

 Rally killer Evan Gattis, at your service.

 When Ashby says Evan Gattis steps to the plate, I die a little inside.

 Looking back at some offseason trades, that Evan Gattis trade really didn't work for anyone

 What did I say about Evan Gattis? He stinks! Get that bum out of the lineup!

Nothing kills a rally like a at bat.

 To my Rangers fan friends-Gattis' Twitter is if you would like to tell him thanks for sucking ass.


And all of this after some real good articles about how hard he works and how good he really is to people:

Evan Gattis’ adaption to designated hitting role

Posted on August 7, 2015 | By 
OAKLAND, Calif. — Astros designated hitter Evan Gattis is always buzzing or moving somewhere, rarely sitting at his locker with a crossword puzzle or lounging on the couch playing a game on his phone. The burly, bearded slugger is built for anything but idling.
The switch to designated hitter, then, might be counterintuitive for Gattis, who turns 29 this month and was a catcher before this year. There’s a lot of time in-between at-bats, with no defensive duties to serve as a distraction.
“He chats me up every day,” manager A.J. Hinch said. “There’s always a spot right next to me that a lot of players come by and stand with me for a little bit (during the games). He’s one of the ones that does it the most. He’s a bright guy, bright baseball mind. He’s always thinking.”
One of Gattis’ recurring thoughts: he misses catching, and he doesn’t miss catching at all.
“I love catching, but I didn’t realize how hard it was until I’m not catching,” Gattis said on a recent road trip. “It’s really hard. It’s a hard job. It’s unbelievable. I always knew it was hard. Just the way I feel right now compared to last year, just have even more respect.”
Gattis said he feels awesome physically, a night-and-day difference. He’s had knee and back problems in the past, but hasn’t seen the disabled list this year.
That’s exactly why he can be hard to find around the clubhouse before games.
When Gattis gets to the ball park, he’ll usually get something to eat first. Then he might read the paper before going in for treatment on any nagging physical condition.
Not everyone is so proactive in seeking the medical and training staff’s attention. But Gattis is particularly in tune to his corporal needs, and acknowledged he takes a lot of treatment.
“Hot tub, cold tub, stuff like that. I get loose, do some … thoracic spine mobility, just stretching and stuff like that and foam rolling,” Gattis said, talking about a common stretch where he’ll sit on the floor and roll over with a tube of foam under his back. “I always err on the side of caution, just because last year kind of made me do that catching. … Cold tub after the game, contrast before, no matter what. And ice. And just preventative stuff.
“I don’t know how much I need it, but it doesn’t hurt, you know what I’m saying? Your paycheck is your body, you might as well take care of it as best you can. (Treatments are) at our disposal. … If I have something I would rather go in than not.”
Gattis has purposely lost weight, dropping about eight pounds since spring training so he can become lighter and faster, and it’s visible. (He also, comically and impressively, has seven triples.)
The pre-game preparation for Gattis, who was with the Braves before they traded him to the Astros in the winter, was time-consuming in a different way when he was a catcher. He would spend about an hour reviewing the other team’s lineup once he had it in his hands. That became his No. 1 priority — so by default, his body was not his first focus.
Before batting practice on the field, Gattis hits off the tee most every day, and that’s a new habit. He learned it from one of the best, Lance Berkman, in spring training.
Gattis is a major leaguer, but until he worked with Berkman in Florida, he actually felt he didn’t know how to properly utilize the most basic of hitting tools around.
“It’s just more about like bat path,” Gattis said. “I’ll move the tee around and really work on … changing posture, stuff like that, and then I’m ready to go for BP.
“I just never knew how to use the Tee. I never really liked it, and in spring training, I started hitting good. … I asked (Berkman) to show me. ‘Cause he was big on it, and I had a ton of respect for Berkman, who’s an unbelievable hitter.”
The big man who’s becoming a little less of a big man goes for a super-food smoothie after his hacks are done: spinach, fruit. Then there could be an advance meeting ahead of the game. About 30 minutes before first pitch, he’ll start getting ready to go out to the field.
The very start of the season was tough for Gattis. But Dating to April 26 through play Thursday, he hit .261 with 16 home runs and a .483 slugging percentage.
“DH is, like, unbelievably different,” he said.
MLB: Time with Falcons remains memorable for Gattis
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Posted: Tuesday, August 4, 2015 10:14 pm | Updated: 10:21 pm, Tue Aug 4, 2015.
By Stephen Hunt | MRT Correspondent | 0 comments
ARLINGTON ---Evan Gattis might have spent just one season with the University of Texas-Permian Basin baseball team, but the current Houston designated hitter knows how important that 2010 campaign with the Falcons was in reaching the big leagues with Atlanta in 2013.
“Absolutely, that was my opportunity to get drafted,” Gattis said. I had a blast at college that one year. I still stay in touch with a whole bunch of guys on that team. When we go to California (later in the season), I’m staying with a buddy (from there) on the off day.”
Gattis, 28, came to the Astros in a trade with the Braves last offseason. In 101 games, the ex-Falcon is hitting .247 with 17 home runs and 59 RBI. But his overall numbers are deceiving since he hit .164 with two home run and nine RBI in April, but has hit .266 with 15 home runs and 50 RBI since.
Seeing him rebound from a tough start with his new club is one of many things that has impressed first-year Astros manager A.J. Hinch.
 “To see him go through what he went through to start the year will show you how remarkable he’s been since that tough first two or three weeks,” Hinch said.
This is Hinch’s second stint as a big-league manager after previously managing in Arizona and Gattis feels his new skipper’s hands-off approach is one reason why the Astros have been sitting atop the American League West for much of 2015.
“He knows what he’s doing. He knows how to manage. He knows people and he knows the game. He has an unbelievable wealth of knowledge,” Gattis said.
A Dallas native, this week’s three-game series with the Texas Rangers marks his third time back in his hometown as a big-leaguer, second with Houston. Gattis says he didn’t grow up a Texas fan but admits there is something special about now playing at Globe Life Park, the Rangers’ home where he grew up watching games.
“Yeah, just walking in (is cool),” he said. “I was telling somebody else it’s kind of a special place. This is where I grew up watching ball. Yeah, I like coming back.”  
When some big-leaguers are traded from the organization who drafts them, it can be unexpected and maybe even traumatic. But that however wasn’t the case for Gattis, who saw the writing on the wall in Atlanta and welcomed a trade, especially to his home state.
“I was pretty happy to come to the American League. I was happy to stay in Texas. It’s good for my friends and family. It’s easier on me for sure, so I was happy,” Gattis said. “To see that they (the Braves) were blowing up the team and trying to restart, I was really happy to come somewhere that’s trying to win.”
Gattis’ amazing story, one where he quit baseball twice and held various jobs before ending up in Odessa, has been well-documented. But the affable slugger admits he’s never viewed himself as an inspirational figure, just someone with an interesting story.
“It’s cool but I never really thought about it like that,” he said. “It just kind of happened that way, but yeah, it’s awesome.”
And he might not have a bigger fan than his current manager.
“His presence has been great on our club,” Hinch said. “He’s been very productive throughout the year, both in RBIs, home runs. We’ve found different ways to get production out of him. Having a stable, run-producing, middle-of-the-order bat who competes in every one of his at-bats is a nice presence for this young team.”

These articles speak the plain truth about Evan, and exactly what makes him a real people's champion. But the belittling sayings and cut downs, like the ones above, do THIS to Evan and his real significance to the game of baseball:





I think you get the picture. But honestly Astros country, I thought you all were better than this. Just a few weeks after his recent hit streak, and an appearance at Whataburger that broke records, so many of you are ready to run him out of town all because he is back in another slump. Word of advice to you supposed baseball "fans" out there: GET OVER YOURSELVES!!!! He's a tremendous player and man, but he is still also a human being, subject to the occasional fallacies. He's a baseball player! It happens! Get used to it!

I think it should be law that anyone that makes a sneering comment like that against any baseball player should then be forced to play one major league game in that player's said position. Then maybe these haters won't be so quick to lash out for no reason. It may even embarrass those haters in the process, which would give me some chuckles to enjoy.

 So in all seriousness haters, KNOCK IT OFF! Quit the belittling cut downs and metaphorical "shrinking" of Evan Gattis. I've had it! Know that every time you do this, I will always be there to provide the anecdote to all of the evils you try to put on this stellar ball player, and even more than stellar human being! I'm already working on that for tomorrow's post.



Stay tuned......
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Location: Atlanta, GA, USA

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