Dale Zanine-USA Today Sports
The unlikely journey Evan Gattis took to make it to the Atlanta Braves has become well-known.
With each game, each at-bat, the story that is El Oso Blanco seemingly becomes more unlikely.
The Braves were down to their last out on Tuesday night, trailing the Minnesota Twins by a score of 4-3. With ice in his veins, Gattis strolled to the plate and drove an 0-1 breaking ball from Glen Perkins over the left field wall to tie the game.
The dramatic moment came just three days after Gattis hit the game-winning two-run home run in the bottom of the eighth inning against the Los Angeles Dodgers with the Braves trailing by a run. On the season, Gattis has hit three home runs in six pinch-hit at-bats. In a moment most players crumble, Gattis has flourished.
With both Brian McCann and Jason Heyward back in the lineup, Gattis has seen his playing time reduced to spot starts and pinch-hitting duties. For a man that lived out of his van, worked as a janitor and battled depression, the reduced role does not seem to bother him.
Honestly, he has a gripe for more playing time because he has been good — really good.
He leads all MLB rookies with nine home runs. His .870 OPS would rank in the top 15 in the National League if he had enough at-bats to qualify. Perhaps most impressively, Gattis is second on the team with a 1.1 offensive WAR rating.
The slugger passes both the computer and eyeball test. The man can hit.
The unbelievable, too-good-to-be true story of Gattis keeps on growing, but it’s not done yet. There are more chapters to unfold in his story the rest of 2013 and beyond.
