Braves manager Fredi Gonzalez might not have had a sense of fun when he failed to insert Evan Gattis in his lineup Friday night on “El Oso Blanco” night at Turner Field. But he didn’t miss a beat when he gave his prediction for what might transpire if he brings the “White Bear” off the bench to pinch hit.
“We’ll get him out of hibernation, put him in the right spot, and he’ll make a big splash,” Gonzalez said.
Gonzalez kept his word, and pinch hit Gattis with runners second and third in the seventh inning Friday night, with the Braves leading 2-1, as fans in the “Bear Cave” rose to their feet. But Marlins manager Mike Redmond intentionally walked Gattis - who has four pinch-hit home runs in eight at-bats - with first base open, to the fans’ dismay and the Braves left the bases loaded in the inning.
The Braves announced after Friday’s game they were sending Gattis to Charlotte with Triple-A Gwinnett for the next three days to get some at-bats while the team finishes out the season in Charlotte. Read story here.
Gonzalez’s play on words was pretty apropos, actually. The legend of rookie Gattis has gone pretty quiet of late as his production and playing time have diminished. Entering Friday night, Gattis was hitting only .188 (22-for-117) with three home runs and 15 RBIs in 36 games since June 1.
This is after he burst onto the scene, winning back-to-back National League rookie of the month awards in April and May while hitting .281 with 12 home runs combined. In April, he homered in his debut and in his first pinch hit at-bat. He hit his first career grand slam in May and had five game-winning RBIs. Three of Gattis’ May home runs accounted for the tying or go-ahead runs in the sixth inning or later, including two in the eighth inning or later.
But after an oblique injury sidelined Gattis for nearly a month starting in late June, his season took a turn.
“We forget that he’s a rookie,” Gonzalez said. “The way he started, rookies don’t start that way. Usually they start struggling and then they kind of catch up for a little bit, maybe get sent down for a week or a month or so and come back up and do well. But he started like ‘man, oh man,’ he couldn’t do anything wrong. And sometimes you forget because he’s a little bit older than most rookies that he’s a rookie and he’s going to go through some of these things.”
When asked if pitchers were pitching him more carefully after his hot start, Gattis acknowledged “maybe a little.”
“I think whenever you first come up and nobody knows you, it’s like spring training No. 68 or whatever,” Gattis said. “So it’s like guys have to find out. It’s a cat and mouse game. It goes back and forth. Ups and downs, arounds, but it’s still baseball. It’s been like this forever.”
Gattis was on an 0-for-17 streak entering Friday night and hadn’t played in five games. That didn’t stop fans from buying up ticket packages for “El Oso Blanco” night, which were in such popular demand the Braves are doing it again Sept. 13. They sold about 1,500 tickets for Friday night.
The packages include seats in the “Bear Cave” the upper section of outfield seats from left to left center field, “El Oso Blanco” white T-shirts and a foam bear claw.
Gattis’ dad and stepmother and high school coach flew in from Dallas, Texas for the occasion.
“It’ll be fun, cool,” Gattis said.
The Braves are in the midst of a stretch of 13 straight games facing right-handed pitchers, so Gonzalez has been less-inclined to play Gattis in left field. He’s also been trying to get B.J. Upton going at the plate and getting a feel for new acquisition Elliot Johnson, who got his first start in left Friday night.
“I get it,” Gattis said. “It’s all good.”
