Every Little Thing He Does is Magic!
If any of you readers out there have wondered where I've been the past week and a half, I want to first offer my deepest sympathies for not writing more. I was in a car accident last Monday, May the 1st. It came as the result of a diesel oil spill on a main roadway on my way to work. This caused me and 5 other vehicles to spin out and run into each other.
Thankfully, I walked away without any injuries. However, my old Chevy Cruze suffered a total loss, and I spent all of last week trying to get myself back on the road as soon as possible. Kudos go out to the folks at Progressive for helping to make this life shaking event as seamless as possible. I'm now in a new vehicle, and once my registration stickers and plates get to me, I can return to the Lyft platform and continue my weekend job of driving folks around the DFW metroplex.
You can check out my tweets for yourselves below. First, the tweet of the wreck:
True story, Gattis and Altuve hold the two best batting averages on the team. However, with Altuve getting far more at-bats, he wins the tie breaker. As frustrating as that is, you just can't take away from the All-Star second baseman and unofficial team captain. Realistically, both of these players are a big part of this roster. I've cleverly named them the Mowgli and Baloo of Major League Baseball! FYI readers, fan voting for the All-Star Game in July is up right now. Click on this link, and vote for these Astros players. Especially Gattis, he has more than earned the right to go to his very first midsummer classic of his storybook career so far!
This notion does, yet again, bring up the issue of playing time for the Big White Bear. Hinch promised back on April 19th that he would get Gattis more consistent at-bats. Some injuries during the series in Cleveland and back home against Oakland allowed him to go six straight games, his longest playing stretch to date in 2017. However, this past week against both the Texas Rangers (a 3 out of 4 victory for the spacemen to set a different tone for the Silver Boot rivalry) at home and on the road against the Los Angeles Angels, he only played in 3 of the 7 games. 2 of these were at home in both a catcher and DH start, and only one on Sunday in Anaheim to catch Mike Fiers.
I keep saying it, and will continue to until I am black and blue in the face. Hinch needs to start making good on his promise to play Gattis more. There's just no way around it anymore. How any manager can justify sitting a .304 hitting backup catcher and DH while the current DH, Carlos Beltran, is only hitting in the .240s is beyond me at this point. But something really does need to give, and give quickly!
The Astros will open up a 2 game set against my long time childhood team, the Atlanta Braves, tomorrow and Wednesday before heading the road again for 4 games up in the Bronx against the New York Yankees, and then down to the sunshine state to take on the Miami Marlins for 3 games. On the one hand, the Braves were my childhood team, and I was 10 when they took home the world title. And, in addition to Gattis, Charlie Morton, James Hoyt and Brian McCann have all had stints with that team. Despite this, I'm all about the spacemen making this a 2 game sweep!
And as Eric Huysman points out in his latest piece from my Fansided colleagues over at "Climbing Tal's Hill," the combination of McCann and Gattis, both former Braves, are slowly but surely becoming the best catching duo in franchise history for H-Town:
In the midst of this fun ride for the spacemen so far, I just don't want it to get lost on anyone exactly what Evan Gattis brings to this team and how is CURRENT 2017 numbers should permit more playing time for him. I very much want to trust this process that Hinch, Lunhow and others are putting forth. But it is very hard to do when your back-to-back season team leader in homers, someone that played 128 games just last season, that has had his numbers only tick up and an instant fan favorite, is somehow forced to keep warming up the bench. There's no justice in that whatsoever!
Additionally, he should not be traded again. If anything, Evan and his agent should ask for a multi-year extension come arbitration time this winter. Especially, when you consider that McCann only has options through 2019, and you'll need a strong veteran presence like Gattis around to groom the likes of any potential future starting catchers in Garrett Stubbs, Max Stassi or Jake Rodgers. The organization would do well to make this happen next off season. He always works hard, and always surprises and delights fans and media alike with all the plays he makes, both on and off the field.
With Evan Gattis, every little thing he does truly is magic!
Thankfully, I walked away without any injuries. However, my old Chevy Cruze suffered a total loss, and I spent all of last week trying to get myself back on the road as soon as possible. Kudos go out to the folks at Progressive for helping to make this life shaking event as seamless as possible. I'm now in a new vehicle, and once my registration stickers and plates get to me, I can return to the Lyft platform and continue my weekend job of driving folks around the DFW metroplex.
You can check out my tweets for yourselves below. First, the tweet of the wreck:
And by Friday, my brand new vehicle!:Not the way I wanted to start my week. At least I'm still in one piece. 😔😡 pic.twitter.com/GhuShNQ8H2— James I Zeankowski (@tvwizard85) May 1, 2017
Yes folks, I did name my new car after your people's champion and mine, Evan Gattis. Because, why not?! El Oso Blanco has been chugging his hot wheels along. He has hit safely in his past 9 games, and like the Energizer Bunny, just keeps going and going. Just yesterday, in fact, he belted this solo bomb to left field, following up on a 3 run shot from Jose Altuve earlier in the game to give the Astros the 5-3 victory and series win.My new wheels; a 2016 Hyundai Elantra. And in the tradition of car naming, meet GATTY, #Astros fans! pic.twitter.com/0e7QncIGim— James I Zeankowski (@tvwizard85) May 5, 2017
True story, Gattis and Altuve hold the two best batting averages on the team. However, with Altuve getting far more at-bats, he wins the tie breaker. As frustrating as that is, you just can't take away from the All-Star second baseman and unofficial team captain. Realistically, both of these players are a big part of this roster. I've cleverly named them the Mowgli and Baloo of Major League Baseball! FYI readers, fan voting for the All-Star Game in July is up right now. Click on this link, and vote for these Astros players. Especially Gattis, he has more than earned the right to go to his very first midsummer classic of his storybook career so far!
This notion does, yet again, bring up the issue of playing time for the Big White Bear. Hinch promised back on April 19th that he would get Gattis more consistent at-bats. Some injuries during the series in Cleveland and back home against Oakland allowed him to go six straight games, his longest playing stretch to date in 2017. However, this past week against both the Texas Rangers (a 3 out of 4 victory for the spacemen to set a different tone for the Silver Boot rivalry) at home and on the road against the Los Angeles Angels, he only played in 3 of the 7 games. 2 of these were at home in both a catcher and DH start, and only one on Sunday in Anaheim to catch Mike Fiers.
I keep saying it, and will continue to until I am black and blue in the face. Hinch needs to start making good on his promise to play Gattis more. There's just no way around it anymore. How any manager can justify sitting a .304 hitting backup catcher and DH while the current DH, Carlos Beltran, is only hitting in the .240s is beyond me at this point. But something really does need to give, and give quickly!
The Astros will open up a 2 game set against my long time childhood team, the Atlanta Braves, tomorrow and Wednesday before heading the road again for 4 games up in the Bronx against the New York Yankees, and then down to the sunshine state to take on the Miami Marlins for 3 games. On the one hand, the Braves were my childhood team, and I was 10 when they took home the world title. And, in addition to Gattis, Charlie Morton, James Hoyt and Brian McCann have all had stints with that team. Despite this, I'm all about the spacemen making this a 2 game sweep!
And as Eric Huysman points out in his latest piece from my Fansided colleagues over at "Climbing Tal's Hill," the combination of McCann and Gattis, both former Braves, are slowly but surely becoming the best catching duo in franchise history for H-Town:
So yes readers, permit me paraphrasing a hit song from back in 1981 by Sting and the Police to elude to all of these recent wins and quest for the Gatty Daddy to get more playing time. It is a very fortunate thing that almost the entire bench is hitting above .250, Beltran being the only exception to this. However, in the midst of such a stacked team of talent, it is often times hard for people to remember what each player does individually. All of their talents even go beyond the field, as this latest funny video from MLB.com shows with players talking about their favorite emojis. Evan is at the end of the video, and I could argue they saved the best player for last! The face he makes to mimic his favorite emoji is priceless!#Astros best catching duo in Houston history is helping catch wins. https://t.co/nFiZwGlvpV— Climbing Tal's Hill (@astrosCTH) May 8, 2017
In the midst of this fun ride for the spacemen so far, I just don't want it to get lost on anyone exactly what Evan Gattis brings to this team and how is CURRENT 2017 numbers should permit more playing time for him. I very much want to trust this process that Hinch, Lunhow and others are putting forth. But it is very hard to do when your back-to-back season team leader in homers, someone that played 128 games just last season, that has had his numbers only tick up and an instant fan favorite, is somehow forced to keep warming up the bench. There's no justice in that whatsoever!
Additionally, he should not be traded again. If anything, Evan and his agent should ask for a multi-year extension come arbitration time this winter. Especially, when you consider that McCann only has options through 2019, and you'll need a strong veteran presence like Gattis around to groom the likes of any potential future starting catchers in Garrett Stubbs, Max Stassi or Jake Rodgers. The organization would do well to make this happen next off season. He always works hard, and always surprises and delights fans and media alike with all the plays he makes, both on and off the field.
With Evan Gattis, every little thing he does truly is magic!
Original Photo Credit: Tony Dejak of the Associated Press
Don't let the magic disappear, Houston Astros Organzation! Play him more, and extend him beyond 2018. It will be the best decision you will ever make!!!!
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