The Astros knew that they’d have to live with strikeouts when they acquired Evan Gattis from the Braves over the winter, but this is a little extreme.
Gattis went 0-for-4 with four strikeouts for the second straight day on Thursday against the Indians. That’s not a category you want to be in. According to Baseball Reference, Gattis is the first player in Astros history to strike out four times in consecutive games. He’s also the first player since at least 1914 with two four-strikeout games within his team’s first three games in a season. Yikes.
Now 0-for-11 on the year and hearing boo-birds from the home crowd in Houston, Gattis summed up how he felt to Brian McTaggart of MLB.com:
The all-time record for consecutive strikeouts from a non-pitcher is nine, which is shared by Mark Reynolds, Bo Jackson, Reggie Jackson, Eric Davis, Steve Balboni, and Adolfo Phillips. There’s some decent company in there, but Gattis will hope to avoid joining that club next time out.
Correction: Brian McTaggart informs me that the record for a non-pitcher was actually set by Rick Ankiel in 2013, with strikeouts in 10 consecutive plate appearances. So Gattis is two away. My apologies on that.
