Houston Astros: The Vagueness of Injury Reports on Evan Gattis

After a full week since his concussion injury, reports on the progress of Evan Gattis have been vague. Do the Houston Astros know something we don’t?

Back in June, I did a piece on how Houston Astros catcher Evan Gattis has been the forgotten man of 2017. Following a concussion injury he sustained on the back swing of Tampa Bay Rays designated hitter, Corey Dickerson, this sentiment seems to be reigning true.

Why is that, exactly? Well, it all has to do with the degree in which the team has been updating us on his progress through the concussion protocol.

Jake Kaplan tweeted out one of the first updates on Gattis late Tuesday, when the team began their 3 game set on the South Side against the Chicago White Sox:

Evan Gattis is still feeling symptoms from his concussion, according to Hinch. Sounds like he'll need more than just the 7 days on the DL.
— Jake Kaplan (@jakemkaplan) August 8, 2017

Just yesterday, Fabian Ardaya, beat reporter for the White Sox, tweeted out this:

A.J. Hinch said Evan Gattis is still experiencing concussion symptoms. #Astros
— Fabian Ardaya (@FabianArdaya) August 9, 2017

Ardaya has been simultaneously covering both teams in the absence of Brian McTaggart. I took it up myself to ask him this follow up question via a response tweet:

No surprise, I received no response. That brings me to the meat of this topic. And that is this: What could possibly be taking this long?

Same Old Song and Dance!

Brian McCann, Josh Reddick and Jake Marisnick all had a stint on the 7 day concussion DL. Each one returned within the 7 days. That’s surprising, considering McCann and Reddick have been in the league for quite some time, and are getting up there in age.

So my tweeted out question is a good one to answer. Exactly, what treatments, if any, are the doctors actually providing him with? Is the team merely just wanting him to “sleep it off?” Is there more extensive head injury that we, as a fan base and covering media, have not been made aware of?

Don’t get me wrong on this. Any blow to the head is something that does require some time. It’s not nearly the same as a foul ball to the face, or running into a wall to make a defensive catch in the outfield.

However, since he had the hernia surgery last season, Evan Gattis has been fit as a fiddle. The mere fact that this kind of an injury is taking this long brings into question the true severity of it. The lack of knowledge of this process and corresponding vague updates from Hinch suggest something else is at play here.

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After all, we’ve gotten fairly extensive updates from the Houston Astros on Carlos Correa being ahead of schedule on his thumb injury. Additionally, we’ve also heard about the throwing rehab programs of pitchers on the DL. They include Lance McCullers, Will Harris, Michael Feliz and Tony Sipp.

So why are the updates on Evan Gattis nothing more than a short blip of “he still has symptoms?”

Care About the Bear!

Gattis was already having a tough time as it was to get at-bats. At this point last season, he had well over 360 of them. So far in 2017, before his injury, El Oso Blanco only has 241 at-bats.

Granted, he has been having himself quite a 2017. In his limited time, Gattis has been posting a .278/.330/.490/.820 offensive slash line. This is showing a healthier discipline in the batter’s box.

Meanwhile, he’s still posting some serious power, with 11 home runs and 45 RBI in said time. He also has a beefy .212 ISO and 119 wRC+ to go with his 1.4 WAR this season.

So, it stands to reason that many, including myself, would be panicking. For a significant backup catcher that already wasn’t getting enough time, who now sustains this kind of injury with no vital updates on his progress is quite alarming.

Astros fans should not interpret this as a conspiracy theory. Rather, they should take this as an expression of deep concern over what is happening with all of this. Contrary to what some would say, this team really needs Evan Gattis, and he needs them.

Next: Astros Vs. Rangers: A renewed battle for ultimate pride

Of course, Evan Gattis needs to be 100 percent before returning to action. But if he’s not at that stage, we need more in-depth details to ease fears of this being a more substantial injury.

Ones to the head could be life threatening. Let’s just hope and pray that isn’t the case with the bear, and that we see him behind the plate and in the batter’s box again real soon.

GO HOUSTON ASTROS!!!!

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