It seemed like Evan Gattis' first home run in the majors wasn't going to take too long. He had been smacking home runs all winter long, leaking his long ball talents into the spring. In the bottom of the fourth inning, the inevitable occurred and now, Gattis is the Atlanta Braves' newest rookie sensation.
It's not every day that teams feature 27-year-old rookies, but after a four-year hiatus from baseball, being a ski lift operator and a janitor, Gattis hit his first major league home run in his first game and his second at-bat off of baseball's former best pitcher, Roy Halladay. After his Spring Training performance where he smacked six home runs while posting a .368 batting average with a .393 OBP, Gattis proved that his minor league, winter league and Spring Training numbers were not a fluke.
Of course, Gattis could struggle as the league will eventually catch up to him, but he simply proves that the Braves have a great eye for young talent that is bound to be fruitful at the major league level. Who knows, maybe if the Braves had kept Neftali Feliz, Matt Harrison and shortstop Elvis Andrus, they could have been in the World Series, but the Braves were gathering other weapons aside from these young Texas Ranger players, who have had their share of success in less than four years in the majors.
The Braves have Jason Heyward entering his fourth season. Freddie Freeman is now playing in his third season and is off to a hot start. Craig Kimbrel is regarded as the best closer in the game today. Julio Teheran has a chance to be an ace at the fifth spot of the rotation. These guys bred by the Braves farm system quickly develop and become stars once they get to The Show.
The four seasons from 2006-2009 when the Braves weren't in the playoffs felt like an eternity after making the postseason an unprecedented 14 straight times, but now, with all the talents the team raised and added, Atlanta could be seeing a deep run in the playoffs.
Gattis gives them power off the bench and a great backup catcher to their backup Gerald Lair. Both catchers performed well in their Braves' debut as Lair went 2-4 with a RBI. Gattis, of course, smacked a solo home run who park officials retrieved from a fan ironically wearing a Texas A&M hat, the school that had given Gattis a full ride before he never showed up fearing his substance abuse would get him kicked out of the team.
Also know as "El Oso Blanco" aka White Bear, Gattis will look to continue making headlines as his success has made a lot of noise in Braves camp. The Braves continue to shell out successful baseball players and the look to make a run at the N.L. East title as well as a successful playoff experience.
