Keeping the Milestones Coming!
It's official, ladies and gentlemen. In this, now his 4th major league season, your people's champion and mine, Evan Gattis has his 20th home run of the 2016 season. Not only that, but he becomes one of only eight active MLB players to reach the milestone of having at least 20 home runs or more in their first 4 seasons in the majors.
Who are the other 7 players, you ask? Here they are!:
Mark Teixeira
Albert Pujols
Evan Longoria
Ryan Braun
Jay Bruce
Yoenis Cespedes
Giancarlo Stanton
I don't know about you readers, but all of the players on this list are some good company for Evan Gattis to now be apart of. Aside from one or two players, who shall remain nameless for personal reasons. In any case, reaching this feat has not been easy for El Oso Blanco. But the fact that he has reached it only further proves how valuable he is to this sport and this Houston Astros ball club.
Here are some of his quotes following that final and series winning rubber match game, courtesy of Jake Kaplan of the Houston Chronicle:
"It means a lot to me, hitting 20 for four years," Gattis said. "It's definitely a milestone. I'm just glad it happened."
"I have no idea," said Gattis when asked about his splits. "Hopefully the DH numbers will get better. But I think earlier in the year I just wasn't hitting that well. I don't even know what they are anymore, if they're getting closer. Hopefully they are."
Who are the other 7 players, you ask? Here they are!:
Mark Teixeira
Albert Pujols
Evan Longoria
Ryan Braun
Jay Bruce
Yoenis Cespedes
Giancarlo Stanton
I don't know about you readers, but all of the players on this list are some good company for Evan Gattis to now be apart of. Aside from one or two players, who shall remain nameless for personal reasons. In any case, reaching this feat has not been easy for El Oso Blanco. But the fact that he has reached it only further proves how valuable he is to this sport and this Houston Astros ball club.
Here are some of his quotes following that final and series winning rubber match game, courtesy of Jake Kaplan of the Houston Chronicle:
"It means a lot to me, hitting 20 for four years," Gattis said. "It's definitely a milestone. I'm just glad it happened."
And from Brian McTaggart of MLB.com and MLB Network:
The Houston Astros concluded this past road trip with a 5-2 record against two contending teams in the Baltimore Orioles and the Pittsburgh Pirates. They now come home for the next six games against two teams nowhere near contention in the Tampa Bay Rays and the division rival, Oakland Athletics. All before going on another road trip that will see them face the Cleveland Indians after another three game set with the divisional rival, Texas Rangers, up in Arlington. (Another series I will be attending that Saturday!)
The ongoing stat lines from Gattis continue to tell the story and keep showing more of the value that the Big White Bear brings to this Astros ball club:
In the month of August: .297/.358/.486
Post All Star Break: .295/.350/.518
Since his gnome night: .299/.339/.567
But of course, too many folks out there still want to cast doubt on whether or not Evan Gattis should be starting catcher going forward in the wake of the looming free agency of Jason Castro. And as this article from Climbing Tal's Hill this morning had me going with their argument for a while, they lost me right at the end when they suggested that Evan be a backup catcher only. Nothing more, nothing less. (Break out my "Girl, BYE!" eye rolls on that one!)
It will be interesting to see where the lineup will go from here. But one thing is for certain: If Evan Gattis' play time has to suffer because of a certain someone with a proclaimed "defensive gem glove," that's not gonna go over very well with a good portion of the fan base. ESPECIALLY, ME! Astros organization, the writing is literally on the wall! Not only do you set Evan Gattis up for failure by keeping him as only a backup catcher, but you set the team up for failure as well. And let's be honest, isn't that counter productive to the real goals at hand here?
You have someone on your roster who is an everyday impact player, fan favorite and a natural catcher on BOTH sides of the ball. Please, do the right thing, and MAKE PROPER USE OF IT!!!!
But of course, too many folks out there still want to cast doubt on whether or not Evan Gattis should be starting catcher going forward in the wake of the looming free agency of Jason Castro. And as this article from Climbing Tal's Hill this morning had me going with their argument for a while, they lost me right at the end when they suggested that Evan be a backup catcher only. Nothing more, nothing less. (Break out my "Girl, BYE!" eye rolls on that one!)
It will be interesting to see where the lineup will go from here. But one thing is for certain: If Evan Gattis' play time has to suffer because of a certain someone with a proclaimed "defensive gem glove," that's not gonna go over very well with a good portion of the fan base. ESPECIALLY, ME! Astros organization, the writing is literally on the wall! Not only do you set Evan Gattis up for failure by keeping him as only a backup catcher, but you set the team up for failure as well. And let's be honest, isn't that counter productive to the real goals at hand here?
You have someone on your roster who is an everyday impact player, fan favorite and a natural catcher on BOTH sides of the ball. Please, do the right thing, and MAKE PROPER USE OF IT!!!!
Original Photo Credit: Fred Vuich, Associated Press
Front office & management, THIS needs to happen more often!!!!
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