A Different Kind of "Casting" Call
Every winter, we go through the same thing. And every winter, I have to keep dealing with these cynical and testy beat writers from around the baseball world making the awful suggestions that your people's champion and mine, Evan Gattis needs to be traded "while his stock is high" and how "he's already 30, and not as young as other players." All of this in the continual doubt casting over El Oso Blanco that is causing nothing but pain and aggravation to us fans.
Well, I'm not going to sit idly by and allow this to keep happening. From now on, any instance I see of a writer posing questions that seek to cast doubt on Evan being on the Astros roster going forward, or how he'll somehow be out of this league inside of another season or two, I will expose such writer and the online publication that allows said writer to post such things.
Climbing Tal's Hill, it's your turn again. This time, it comes via your writer, Danny Cagen, and his latest piece on The Evolution of Evan Gattis that he published just this morning on your site. Specifically, when the following two statements were mentioned towards the end:
"Whether the team keeps him around for the 2017 season remains to be seen."
"If only somehow Gattis can get his average near that respectable .263 in 2014."
Alright, CTH and Mr. Cagen, you all are going to want to sit down for this, because my "casting call" is going to involve calling out the mere doubt casting these two sentences play into. We're going to start with the second statement you made about his average and then work our way from there.
It is true that Evan Gattis can, in general, work on hitting for higher average. But here's the thing: Only two of his four major league seasons has actually seen him hit at or above the ever popular .250 mark. Does that mean he needs to be labeled as some kind of poor hitter? Most certainly not! Especially when you consider that in 2016, he broke single season offensive records in the following: (Warning readers, stats are about to be repeated!)
Home Runs (32)
On-Base Percentage (.319)
Slugging Percentage (.508)
OPS (.827)
Walk rate % (8.5)
Pitches per plate appearance, or P/PA (3.85)
Evan himself will always tell you that, in spite of breaking records, he is never completely satisfied with his seasonal performances. I actually got to ask about this back at Fan Fest 2016 myself. But the very notion of him constantly having that drive and hunger to do better and making good on his strides with vastly improved plate discipline overall should be a qualifier for him to remain an Astro.
Now to the second sentence about his future. I cannot begin to tell you how many times beat writers have to keep beating this idea that Evan may get traded again. There is absolutely no need for this to happen. And if Lunhow does decide to pull the trigger on that, he'd be throwing away one of the best players to ever come through this organization. Not only that, but there isn't a single worthy enough haul from another team that you can get for the very player that has led the club in home runs for two seasons (both he has been here in Houston) in a row, and is without a doubt, your single biggest power threat in that lineup.
Lunhow knows that, and while he may have tough decisions to make for next year's roster, finding a place for Evan Gattis should not be one of those tough choices. It is, instead, a no-brainer that he should not have any difficulty making, assuming he has enough of a conscience to do the right thing for both the club and the player. Factor in Castro's pending free agency and no one being ready in the farm system, and the writing is literally on the wall. All the organization has to do is read what is clearly written there.
Now CTH, I've always been big fans of yours. And Mr. Cagen, I'm sure you wrote this article as a means to find a subject to pass the lingering time of the off season for the team. I mean no disrespect in this post at all. In fact, I was in for most of the article until I saw those two sentences that stuck with me. Still a good piece, but I would rethink those particular two sentences I quoted.
Please know and understand this: I am Evan Gattis' fan blogger. And as such, I feel a duty and responsibility to continue exposing the doubt casting for what it really is: ongoing negativity. Even if unintentional, it needs to be contained before it becomes an epidemic. And I will continue to be on the front lines of this metaphorical quarantine, in the hopes that others out there will join me.
Well, I'm not going to sit idly by and allow this to keep happening. From now on, any instance I see of a writer posing questions that seek to cast doubt on Evan being on the Astros roster going forward, or how he'll somehow be out of this league inside of another season or two, I will expose such writer and the online publication that allows said writer to post such things.
Climbing Tal's Hill, it's your turn again. This time, it comes via your writer, Danny Cagen, and his latest piece on The Evolution of Evan Gattis that he published just this morning on your site. Specifically, when the following two statements were mentioned towards the end:
"Whether the team keeps him around for the 2017 season remains to be seen."
"If only somehow Gattis can get his average near that respectable .263 in 2014."
Alright, CTH and Mr. Cagen, you all are going to want to sit down for this, because my "casting call" is going to involve calling out the mere doubt casting these two sentences play into. We're going to start with the second statement you made about his average and then work our way from there.
It is true that Evan Gattis can, in general, work on hitting for higher average. But here's the thing: Only two of his four major league seasons has actually seen him hit at or above the ever popular .250 mark. Does that mean he needs to be labeled as some kind of poor hitter? Most certainly not! Especially when you consider that in 2016, he broke single season offensive records in the following: (Warning readers, stats are about to be repeated!)
Home Runs (32)
On-Base Percentage (.319)
Slugging Percentage (.508)
OPS (.827)
Walk rate % (8.5)
Pitches per plate appearance, or P/PA (3.85)
Evan himself will always tell you that, in spite of breaking records, he is never completely satisfied with his seasonal performances. I actually got to ask about this back at Fan Fest 2016 myself. But the very notion of him constantly having that drive and hunger to do better and making good on his strides with vastly improved plate discipline overall should be a qualifier for him to remain an Astro.
Now to the second sentence about his future. I cannot begin to tell you how many times beat writers have to keep beating this idea that Evan may get traded again. There is absolutely no need for this to happen. And if Lunhow does decide to pull the trigger on that, he'd be throwing away one of the best players to ever come through this organization. Not only that, but there isn't a single worthy enough haul from another team that you can get for the very player that has led the club in home runs for two seasons (both he has been here in Houston) in a row, and is without a doubt, your single biggest power threat in that lineup.
Lunhow knows that, and while he may have tough decisions to make for next year's roster, finding a place for Evan Gattis should not be one of those tough choices. It is, instead, a no-brainer that he should not have any difficulty making, assuming he has enough of a conscience to do the right thing for both the club and the player. Factor in Castro's pending free agency and no one being ready in the farm system, and the writing is literally on the wall. All the organization has to do is read what is clearly written there.
Now CTH, I've always been big fans of yours. And Mr. Cagen, I'm sure you wrote this article as a means to find a subject to pass the lingering time of the off season for the team. I mean no disrespect in this post at all. In fact, I was in for most of the article until I saw those two sentences that stuck with me. Still a good piece, but I would rethink those particular two sentences I quoted.
Please know and understand this: I am Evan Gattis' fan blogger. And as such, I feel a duty and responsibility to continue exposing the doubt casting for what it really is: ongoing negativity. Even if unintentional, it needs to be contained before it becomes an epidemic. And I will continue to be on the front lines of this metaphorical quarantine, in the hopes that others out there will join me.
Original Photo Credit: Michael Zagaris of Getty Images
Evan Gattis has earned his rightful place on this Houston Astros ball club for years to come. Others now need to embrace that!
Comments
Post a Comment