Flying High Again....To Stick Around!
After being gone for nearly a week on a stay-cation, I come back breathing more sighs of relief. Hey, even I need to unplug every now and again. Does a world of good! Just when I thought the Houston Astros were out, the spacemen pull me back in again. And let me tell you, I thoroughly enjoy every single time that they do it!
The team has won 4 of their last 5, including winning the season series finale against the Texas Rangers, taking 2 out of 3 from a once surging Seattle Mariners team, and generated another late comeback victory last night against another divisional rival in the Oakland Athletics on the East Bay. The Houston Astros now find themselves tied with Seattle again at only 3 games back in the Wild Card play off standings. But don't just take my word for it! RELIVE.... EVERY.... MOMENT!
Yes, ladies and gentlemen! Last night's comeback was a thing of beauty that will be a joy forever. Despite whatever comes at them from the critics, they always find a way to get their backs off of the wall and keep charging forth. And it is making for quite the interesting playoff race for the American League in 2016.
To make things even better, your people's champion and mine, Evan Gattis continues swinging the consistently productive and hot bat. Time now to dig a little bit deeper into the most updated stats on El Oso Blanco since the All Star Break. Brace yourselves, folks! Like me, you'll probably be salivating like I have over the past couple of months!:
In the past 5 games: 5-for-16 (.313 BA)
In the past 7 games: .261/.393/.652 (1.045 OPS!)
In the past 15 games: .255/.345/.627 (.972 OPS!)
In the past 30 games: .284/.384/.632 (1.016 OPS!)
Since the All Star Break/Second Half of the Season: .286/.361/.588 (.949 OPS!)
Total wRC+ (weighted runs created plus) for 2016: 115 (85 is the average for a catcher!)
WAR (wins above replacement): 2.5 (Up from 0.5 last season!)
Catcher's ERA: 3.42 (League average is 3.9!)
If that weren't enough, last night also saw the Big White Bear reach some new career highs:
Pitches per Plate Appearance (P/PA): 3.80
Current 2016 season OPS: .815 (Second on the active roster to only Carlos Correa, who has an .820 as of today. Gattis' career high season OPS came as an Atlanta Brave in 2014, where he had a .811 OPS that season!)
Walk ratio: 8.7% (While still only at a 6% for his entire career, his previous three seasons saw him only get as high as 5.5% in this category!)
Total Home Runs for 2016: 28, tied with George Springer for the club lead and breaking his single season career record set last year in 2015 with 27!
These new career highs show exactly what I have been screaming for a while now. And that is, Evan Gattis has been showing a higher amount of patience at the plate. This has involved working the pitch counts, drawing more walks and waiting for his pitches to hit to get the much needed results that he and the Houston Astros collectively need right now. Already breaking his single season record to be on pace to hit the 30 home run plateau for the first time in his career will surely come in handy for a potential playoff run. So what does Evan Gattis and the rest of this team feel about the remaining 12 games and being only 3 games out of a spot to October baseball?
The team has won 4 of their last 5, including winning the season series finale against the Texas Rangers, taking 2 out of 3 from a once surging Seattle Mariners team, and generated another late comeback victory last night against another divisional rival in the Oakland Athletics on the East Bay. The Houston Astros now find themselves tied with Seattle again at only 3 games back in the Wild Card play off standings. But don't just take my word for it! RELIVE.... EVERY.... MOMENT!
Yes, ladies and gentlemen! Last night's comeback was a thing of beauty that will be a joy forever. Despite whatever comes at them from the critics, they always find a way to get their backs off of the wall and keep charging forth. And it is making for quite the interesting playoff race for the American League in 2016.
To make things even better, your people's champion and mine, Evan Gattis continues swinging the consistently productive and hot bat. Time now to dig a little bit deeper into the most updated stats on El Oso Blanco since the All Star Break. Brace yourselves, folks! Like me, you'll probably be salivating like I have over the past couple of months!:
In the past 5 games: 5-for-16 (.313 BA)
In the past 7 games: .261/.393/.652 (1.045 OPS!)
In the past 15 games: .255/.345/.627 (.972 OPS!)
In the past 30 games: .284/.384/.632 (1.016 OPS!)
Since the All Star Break/Second Half of the Season: .286/.361/.588 (.949 OPS!)
Total wRC+ (weighted runs created plus) for 2016: 115 (85 is the average for a catcher!)
WAR (wins above replacement): 2.5 (Up from 0.5 last season!)
Catcher's ERA: 3.42 (League average is 3.9!)
If that weren't enough, last night also saw the Big White Bear reach some new career highs:
Pitches per Plate Appearance (P/PA): 3.80
Current 2016 season OPS: .815 (Second on the active roster to only Carlos Correa, who has an .820 as of today. Gattis' career high season OPS came as an Atlanta Brave in 2014, where he had a .811 OPS that season!)
Walk ratio: 8.7% (While still only at a 6% for his entire career, his previous three seasons saw him only get as high as 5.5% in this category!)
Total Home Runs for 2016: 28, tied with George Springer for the club lead and breaking his single season career record set last year in 2015 with 27!
These new career highs show exactly what I have been screaming for a while now. And that is, Evan Gattis has been showing a higher amount of patience at the plate. This has involved working the pitch counts, drawing more walks and waiting for his pitches to hit to get the much needed results that he and the Houston Astros collectively need right now. Already breaking his single season record to be on pace to hit the 30 home run plateau for the first time in his career will surely come in handy for a potential playoff run. So what does Evan Gattis and the rest of this team feel about the remaining 12 games and being only 3 games out of a spot to October baseball?
As put so delicately in these songs by Foo Fighters and the incomparable Ozzy Osbourne, they're not going anywhere! Sure, time may be running out. But one thing that can be said about this team is their collective fighting spirit. And that spirit will surely allow them to fly high again to stick around!
Evan Gattis will be a big part in helping these Houston Astros soar to the playoffs in 2016!!!!
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