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Houston Astros Evan Gattis Is A Triples Machine

By Larry Manch |
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Jul 23, 2015; Houston, TX, USA; Houston Astros designated hitter Evan Gattis (11) hits an RBI single during the seventh inning against the Boston Red Sox at Minute Maid Park. Mandatory Credit: Troy Taormina-USA TODAY Sports

You might assume that the Astros triples leader would be someone like the young fleet-footed Carlos Correa, George Springer, or Jose Altuve. It’s not. Nor is it Colby Rasmus or Marwin Gonzalez. No, the new speedster of the Astros is about the most unlikely triples hitter you can imagine. The guy that leads the Astros with five triples and is tied for 11th place in all of MLB is six-foot-four-inch, 260 pound Evan Gattis.

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The man also known as ‘El Oso Blanco’, ‘The White Bear’, had one career MLB triple before 2015. For him to hit so many in 88 games is an unlikely occurrence for sure, especially considering that he is built like a linebacker, not a sprinter. The Astros have several players far more capable of hitting triples, but only three others have even one this season. Center fielder Jake Marisnick has hit three, but he is expected to do these things; no one figured Gattis would lead the team in this difficult feat of hitting. A triple requires a combination of speed and power; the ability to hit a baseball far into the gap, and to possess the speed to sprint 270 feet before the ball is thrown to third base.

Gattis has the power, however, who would have thought he had the speed to pull off such a thing, five times so far this season? Who is this bear of a man that hits home runs and triples?

Gattis is 28, yet is only in his third MLB season. His road to the big leagues took a few unexpected turns, but he persevered and has become a major contributor to the Astros 2015 success. He is a perfect example of a man that had many reasons to give up and quit, but he refused to give in and abandon his dream of playing Major League Baseball.

He was born and grew up in the Dallas, Texas area, playing amateur baseball as a kid alongside future MLB players Clayton Kershaw, Justin Upton, Billy Butler, and Homer Bailey. Gattis attended three high schools, moving around to play for coaches he felt would help him the most.

He declared in 2004 that he would attend college, and so was not drafted by an MLB team. He declined a Rice University scholarship and accepted one from Texas A&M. Unfortunately, personal and family problems (including his parents’ divorce when he was eight) caught up with him and led to substance abuse, clinical depression, and suicidal thoughts.

“I wanted to kill myself for a long time,” Gattis told Bob Nightengale of USA Today in April 2013. “I was terrified of being a failure.”

After spending time in drug rehab and outpatient therapy, Gattis decided to give baseball another try. Seminole State College in Oklahoma gave him a spot, but after redshirting in his freshman year, he injured his knee in 2006 and quit baseball again.

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Four years of wandering ensued. Gattis worked as a parking valet in Dallas, in a pizza shop, and a ski resort in near Boulder, Colorado. The depression and an anxiety disorder landed him in another hospital. Then he moved back to Dallas and worked as a janitor with his brother, before moving to Taos, New Mexico and another stint working at a ski resort. Further moves followed as he spent time in California, and at Yellowstone Park in Wyoming.

“Drove some pretty sweet cars,” he said of his work as a parking valet in an Anthony Castrovince / MLB.com story in 2013. “Drove some old Ferraris.”

As a ski lift operator, “You had to make sure the chair didn’t hit people in the butt or, if a little kid doesn’t get off the lift, you’ve got to stop the lift,” he said in the same story.

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Jul 22, 2015; Houston, TX, USA; Houston Astros designated hitter Evan Gattis (11) celebrates with right fielder Colby Rasmus (28) after hitting a home run during the fourth inning against the Boston Red Sox at Minute Maid Park. Mandatory Credit: Troy Taormina-USA TODAY Sports

By 2010, Gattis decided to give baseball another chance. His stepbrother played at the University of Texas of the Permian Basin, in Odessa, Texas, and Gattis knew the coach from his high school days. The big man hit .403 with 11 home runs that season, and the Atlanta Braves drafted him in the 23rd round that summer.

Gattis spent 2010-2012 working his way through the minor leagues and playing winter ball in the Venezuelan League. His performance earned him a chance in spring training in 2013 as a non-roster invitee, but he was not expected to make the Braves. When Atlanta catcher Brian McCann went down with an injury, Gattis found himself on the Braves’ Opening Day roster.

The White Bear’s first big league hit came in his second at-bat, a home run off Phillies ace Roy Halliday. Gattis hit and played well enough to be named Rookie of the Month in April as a catcher, and then when McCann returned, the Braves moved the Bear to left field. He earned the Rookie of the Month honor again in May and appeared to be on the right track. An injury and a slump cost him playing time, but didn’t dampen his enthusiasm, even when the Braves sent him to Triple-A Gwinnett in late August. He returned in September and played well, ensuring his spot on the Braves 2014 Opening Day roster.

He began the 2014 season as the regular catcher, with the departure to free agency of Brian McCann, and although Gattis spent nearly a month on the disabled list, he played 108 games, batting .263 with 22 home runs and 52 RBI. The Braves traded Jason Heyward during the off season, expecting to move Justin Upton to right field, Christian Bethancourt behind the plate, and Gattis to left field.

Two months later Gattis was traded to Houston, along with pitcher James Hoyt, for Mike Foltynewicz, Andrew Thurman, and Rio Ruiz. Although he caught 135 games over his first two MLB seasons, in Houston it appeared his catching days were over.

He has spent most of 2015 as DH and batting fourth or fifth for the Astros, and although he is hitting only .246 as of July 24, he is tied with Chris Carter for second on the team in home runs (16), is second on the Astros in hits (85), and fourth in runs scored. His 57 RBI puts him at the top of the team list. Lately, he has been making good contact, and his slugging percentage of .451 is among Astros leaders. Then there are the triples. As odd as it sounds, he has been, in the words of Rotoworld.com, a triples machine.

There is no denying that Gattis is contributing in a big way to the success of the new and exciting Astros. He is a vital part of the winning attitude at Minute Maid Park.

“Honestly, what would you rather be doing right now than this?” Gattis said in an Associated Press story from 2013. “But, really, there is nothing … better … to do.”

Any way you look at it, Evan Gattis is doing what he always wanted to do – play Major League Baseball. It’s a bonus for him, his team, and Houston fans that he is suddenly a ‘triples machine’.

“I really kind of fell in love with (Houston),” Gattis told the Houston Chronicle’s Brian T. Smith in July 2015, as the Astro ‘speedster’ signed autographs at a Baytown (Houston) Whataburger Restaurant.

Houston fans have surely fallen in love with their white bear – the triples machine.

Here is a special message thanking Astros fans for welcoming Gattis to Houston from James Zeankowski (@tvwizard85) with  @FantasyPros_MLB from his website, ‘The White Bear Chronicles’.

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