Wheel of Fortune!
There's no better way to capture the delight in us Astros' fans than the long time running game show. One of my personal favorites, as a matter of fact. Many of you were enjoying Memorial Day festivities with an extra off day from work to spend with family and remember those that gave the ultimate sacrifice. May we never forget those souls, who are now, with all hope, in the safety and comfort of God's hands.
But in light of the somberness that may come about on a day of remembrance like yesterday, especially for those that have lost love ones to battle, there was still plenty of celebration to be had. Most especially, after the historical comeback of the Houston Astros in yesterday afternoon's game against the Minnesota Twins to open a 3 game set with them. In case you have not seen any highlights of what happened, let me break it down for you.
The spacemen were down 8-2 heading into the top of the 8th inning. For most visiting teams, it would have spelled doom. For us fans, it seemed as though all hope would be lost in taking this first of three games. Ervin Santana had kept the bats at bay throughout a good majority of the game, only surrendering 2 earned runs. The Twins' ace looked in line to garner another win on the season.
And then, the bullpen came in. Let's just say, it became batting practice for the Astros after that point. Putting up an 11 run frame in the 8th, and another 3 in the 9th inning, the spacemen kept doing what they have done best all season: Never giving up! Just when us spectators of the game felt like this one was going to go in the "L" column, they turned it around into a "W." In doing so, they made all of us everywhere buy the ultimate vowel, an "O!" (Do you see what I did there with the letters, readers?! Totally planned and worth it!)
Coming up to pinch hit for Nori Aoki in the top of the 8th, your people's champion and mine, Evan Gattis even got a force out RBI to help contribute. Despite not getting a hit in his last 5 AB's, the bear is still getting productive outs. Even in the final game against the Baltimore Orioles at home while catching behind Lance McCullers, he was able to reach on a fielder's choice, be called safe at second, and put his wheels in motion to score on Yuli Gurriel's RBI single. Just goes to show that, in spite of slumps, any player can pick up this team at any given point.
I took it upon myself to investigate some of Evan's 2017 stats even further. These are some of the biggest split shifts I have ever seen in any one player. The ones I found are the same which I will highlight below. They include the following:
One of my theories is that it could be Evan himself is willing to sacrifice some of his power in order to get on base and score runners across to keep helping this team win. Whether some will admit to or not, he actually has been a perennial part in a stacked roster from top to bottom. Not to mention that his defensive numbers have also climbed when he served as primary catcher in the midst of his #BearSquared brother, Brian McCann, recovering from a concussion.
Patience is, indeed, a virtue. One that the Big White Bear is putting to extremely good use. And lest anyone forgets, Gattis went on an offensive tear in the second half of last season. Could it be possible that we'll see a repeat of this after the All Star Break in 2017? My money is on yes! Granted, if A.J. Hinch keeps making the effort to get him into the lineup more, not just when someone is hurt.
And as I stated in my most recent analysis on House of Houston, Carlos Beltran can still hold his own in the outfield at his age, so put him out there. This should happen more frequently when the team is at home at Minute Maid Park and the dimensions are not as intimidating. However, Beltran also took some starts up in Cleveland and New York, so even as a 40 year old veteran, he's still proving he's got it out there.
But back to Evan. I know it's easy for some out there to be nervous, or even upset, that Gatty Daddy isn't launching as many bombs at the third-of-the-way mark that people feel he should be. But I would caution folks to take their finger off of the panic switch and enjoy the fact that the bear is as productive as he's always been, and even more so this season. He still finds ways to get both runners across to score, and on base to eventually score runs himself. Comfort should be taken in that, rather than the discomfort in any temporary lack of power.
He'll get there, folks! It's only a matter of time before we see more bear bombs sail out of ball parks across the nation. For now, we play the waiting game!
But in light of the somberness that may come about on a day of remembrance like yesterday, especially for those that have lost love ones to battle, there was still plenty of celebration to be had. Most especially, after the historical comeback of the Houston Astros in yesterday afternoon's game against the Minnesota Twins to open a 3 game set with them. In case you have not seen any highlights of what happened, let me break it down for you.
The spacemen were down 8-2 heading into the top of the 8th inning. For most visiting teams, it would have spelled doom. For us fans, it seemed as though all hope would be lost in taking this first of three games. Ervin Santana had kept the bats at bay throughout a good majority of the game, only surrendering 2 earned runs. The Twins' ace looked in line to garner another win on the season.
And then, the bullpen came in. Let's just say, it became batting practice for the Astros after that point. Putting up an 11 run frame in the 8th, and another 3 in the 9th inning, the spacemen kept doing what they have done best all season: Never giving up! Just when us spectators of the game felt like this one was going to go in the "L" column, they turned it around into a "W." In doing so, they made all of us everywhere buy the ultimate vowel, an "O!" (Do you see what I did there with the letters, readers?! Totally planned and worth it!)
Coming up to pinch hit for Nori Aoki in the top of the 8th, your people's champion and mine, Evan Gattis even got a force out RBI to help contribute. Despite not getting a hit in his last 5 AB's, the bear is still getting productive outs. Even in the final game against the Baltimore Orioles at home while catching behind Lance McCullers, he was able to reach on a fielder's choice, be called safe at second, and put his wheels in motion to score on Yuli Gurriel's RBI single. Just goes to show that, in spite of slumps, any player can pick up this team at any given point.
I took it upon myself to investigate some of Evan's 2017 stats even further. These are some of the biggest split shifts I have ever seen in any one player. The ones I found are the same which I will highlight below. They include the following:
- LHP vs. RHP
- Catcher/DH split
- RISP average
- LHP - .288/.341/.545/.886 (2016); .160/.267/.360/.627 (2017)
- RHP - .230/.307/.488/.795 (2016); .297/.363/.418/.781 (2017)
- As a Catcher - .295/.345/.647/.992 (2016); .247/.309/.370/.679 (2017)
- As a DH - .219/.298/.410/.708 (2016); .293/.396/.439/.805 (2017)
- RISP average - .239/.328/.486/.814 (2016); .333/.400/.500/.900 (2017)
One of my theories is that it could be Evan himself is willing to sacrifice some of his power in order to get on base and score runners across to keep helping this team win. Whether some will admit to or not, he actually has been a perennial part in a stacked roster from top to bottom. Not to mention that his defensive numbers have also climbed when he served as primary catcher in the midst of his #BearSquared brother, Brian McCann, recovering from a concussion.
Patience is, indeed, a virtue. One that the Big White Bear is putting to extremely good use. And lest anyone forgets, Gattis went on an offensive tear in the second half of last season. Could it be possible that we'll see a repeat of this after the All Star Break in 2017? My money is on yes! Granted, if A.J. Hinch keeps making the effort to get him into the lineup more, not just when someone is hurt.
And as I stated in my most recent analysis on House of Houston, Carlos Beltran can still hold his own in the outfield at his age, so put him out there. This should happen more frequently when the team is at home at Minute Maid Park and the dimensions are not as intimidating. However, Beltran also took some starts up in Cleveland and New York, so even as a 40 year old veteran, he's still proving he's got it out there.
But back to Evan. I know it's easy for some out there to be nervous, or even upset, that Gatty Daddy isn't launching as many bombs at the third-of-the-way mark that people feel he should be. But I would caution folks to take their finger off of the panic switch and enjoy the fact that the bear is as productive as he's always been, and even more so this season. He still finds ways to get both runners across to score, and on base to eventually score runs himself. Comfort should be taken in that, rather than the discomfort in any temporary lack of power.
He'll get there, folks! It's only a matter of time before we see more bear bombs sail out of ball parks across the nation. For now, we play the waiting game!
Still courtesy of MLB.com on Twitter
The bear wasn't the only one making this face at yesterday's comeback win. We all were!!!!
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