Skip to content

Bacardi Untameable - Evan Gattis chose the path less traveled

Kevin Liles / USA TODAY Sports

It's not uncommon for young people to embark on a journey of self-discovery after school. It is, however, quite uncommon for high profile baseball prospects to walk away from the game when riches are at their fingertips.

This was exactly where Evan Gattis found himself, out of baseball within a year of graduating high school. Anxiety and substance abuse pushed him away from baseball, where he was a sure-fire draft pick sitting on a scholarship to a baseball factory in his home state of Texas.

After spending time in a rehab facility, Gattis began life after baseball, working odd jobs and seeking spiritual guidance. Taking turns as a custodian, a ski lift operator, and a park ranger. Gattis sought happiness, not hanging sliders.

Once the baseball bug took hold again, the big right-handed power hitter turned to play college ball in Texas. A strong season at the plate turned into a late-round draft selection by the Atlanta Braves.

Now a professional baseball player, the journey began anew.

Gattis made up for lost time by taking huge strides in the Braves lower minor league system. The team kept him in extended spring training for much of his first professional season, but he did produce the power that seems to live naturally in his bat and violent swing, hitting 22 home runs in his first full season of pro ball.

The Braves continued challenging and promoting Gattis in 2012, moving him to double-A, where he produced. After another promising minor league season he spent the winter in the Venezuelan League, earning his formidable nickname “El Oso Blanco” - The White Bear.

Ahead of the 2013 season, Gattis looked more like an oddity than the kind of player ready to help the Braves make it back to the postseason. But he kept hitting and an injury to starting catcher Brian McCann opened the door.

Gattis strode right through, pounding tape measure home runs and getting off to a tremendous start to his pro career. The Braves were so desperate were they for his instant offense they used Gattis in left field as well as behind the plate.

Reality set in during the second half of the season, as pitchers figured the White Bear out and his numbers suffered to the point that the Braves sent him down to triple-A at the end of August. Was he just another boom-or-bust power guy, serving only to punish mistakes rather than make his living as an everyday ball player?

That was the question before the 2014 season started. Atlanta lost their long-term starting catcher when McCann left for New York via free agency. Could the Braves entrust the still-unproven Gattis as their everyday catcher?

The numbers make an emphatic case for “yes.” Gattis owns a .286/.339/.545 batting line in 2014 with 16 home runs in just 250 plate appearances. When he missed nearly a month on the disabled list, the men behind him on the depth chart produced close to nothing offensively as the whole clubs’ offense stagnated.

To walk away from baseball for a path of uncertainty was not an easy choice for Evan Gattis. That he was able to return and thrive, racing through the minor leagues and making an instant impact at the big league level, speaks to his talent and determination. Few can claim the bravery to walk so close to the brink only to find themselves here, at the top of the game as one of baseball’s premier slugging catchers.



 

Daily Newsletter

Get the latest trending sports news daily in your inbox