TWITTER FRENZY
Examining what's behind troubled former Astros' social media comments
Apr 14, 2023, 12:43 pm
Evan Gattis is causing quite the stir on Twitter. Photo via: Wiki Commons.
Late Monday night in the Year of Our Lord 2023 former Astros slugger Evan Gattis went on Twitter and confessed in detail, on behalf of himself and the entire team, that the Astros cheated to win the 2017 World Series. He also copped to using steroids during his career.
The night was still young, time for one more bad decision. “@BulldogBeing” practically invited his 120,000 Twitter followers to an “Ask Me Anything” session. Among other mea culpas:
“I remember knowing what was coming against (Clayton) Kershaw.” Gattis got a hit off the Dodger ace in Game 5 of the 2017 World Series.
“As a team we swung and missed a handful of times only against him.” Kershaw gave up six runs over 4-2/3 innings that game. He threw 94 pitches. He struck out only two batters. The Astros swung and missed only four pitches.
“The craziest thing about the cheating year is facing a guy like Yu Darvish and getting shut out knowing what’s coming.”
He answered one follower who flat out asked, “So you knew what pitch from C.C. Sabathia was coming in Game 7 (when Gattis homered in the 2017 ALCS)?”
In a word: “Yes.”
As Duane “The Rock” Johnson would say, why in the blue hell would Gattis suddenly decide to cleanse his conscience over an incident from six years ago which has been adjudicated, punishments meted out, dispatched to history, resurrected in a recent investigative book and redeemed by the Astros’ squeaky clean and convincing win in the 2022 World Series?
In baseball years, 2017 was a generation ago. The Astros dismissed their manager and general manager. The team lost two years of top draft picks. The Astros were fined MLB’s maximum $5 million. And they became national villains.
Many fans have expunged the Astros rap sheet as other teams’ dirty deeds have been unearthed. Bottom line: only one player who participated in the 2017 World Series is on the Astros active roster today: third baseman Alex Bregman. Jose Altuve and Lance McCullers are on the injured list. The rest of the team is long gone, traded or out of baseball.
So why did Gattis do what he did Monday night? Did he just momentarily go a little wacky? Has he been carrying a guilty heart all these years and it was time to unload? Is he angry about the way his career ended? Have the Astros done something to upset him?
Never underestimate “wacky.” Gattis later admitted on Twitter, “Aaaaaand it turns out that I say stupid stuff from time to time. Nite (laughing emoji)”
But it could be more. James Evan Gattis certainly had an interesting big league career. He played for the Atlanta Braves from 2013-14 and the Astros from 2015-18. He smacked 20 home runs in each of his two seasons in Atlanta before the Astros obtained Gattis in a trade for Mike Foltynewicz and Rio Ruiz. The Astros also landed pitcher James Hoyt in the deal.
His first two seasons in Houston, he belted 27 and 32 home runs and became a fan favorite with his mountain man appearance.
In 2015, Gattis, not exactly fleet of foot, inexplicably hit 11 triples, an astounding number in the modern game. He hit only one other 3-bagger his other five years in the league. That was weird.
Gattis earned nearly $17 million over his relatively short career, topping out $6.7 million for 2018, a disappointing season in which he batted only .226. That was a drop of nearly 40 points from the previous Astros World Series year.
Gattis became a free agent after the 2018 season and didn’t play again. He was only 31 at the time. He’s still only 36 years old. Maybe that’s it. But whatever, ease up on Twitter after dark.
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Nick Chubb didn’t expect to be a Houston Texan. At least, not until he got the call on a quiet Saturday at home and was on a flight the next day. It happened fast — too fast, even, for the four-time Pro Bowler to fully process what it all meant. But now that he’s here, it’s clear this wasn’t a random landing spot. This was a calculated leap, one Chubb had been quietly considering from afar.
The reasons he chose Houston speak volumes not only about where Chubb is in his own career, but where the Texans are as a franchise.
For one, Chubb saw what the rest of the league saw the last two seasons: a young team turning the corner. He admired the Texans from a distance — the culture shift under head coach DeMeco Ryans, the explosive rise of C.J. Stroud, and the physical tone set by players like Joe Mixon. That identity clicked with Chubb. He’d been a fan of Ryans for years, and once he got in the building, everything aligned.
“I came here and saw a bunch of guys who like to work and not talk,” Chubb said. “And I realized I'm a perfect fit.”
As for his health, Chubb isn’t running from the injuries that cost him parts of the past two seasons, he’s owning them. But now, he says, they’re behind him. After a full offseason of training the way he always has — hitting his speed and strength benchmarks — Chubb says he’s feeling the best he has in years. He’s quick to remind people that bouncing back from major injuries, especially the one he suffered in 2023, is rarely a one-year journey. It takes time. He’s given it time.
Then there’s his fit with Mixon. The two aren’t just stylistic complements, they go way back. Same recruiting class, same reputation for running hard, same respect for each other’s games. Chubb remembers dreading matchups against the Bengals in Cleveland, worrying Mixon would take over the game. Now, he sees the opportunity in pairing up. “It’ll be us kinda doing that back-to-back against other defenses,” he said.
He’s also well aware of what C.J. Stroud brings to the table. Chubb watched Stroud nearly dismantle Georgia in the College Football Playoff. Then he saw it again, up close, when Stroud lit up the Browns in the postseason. “He torched us again,” Chubb said. Now, he gets to run alongside him, not against him.
Stroud made a point to welcome Chubb, exchanging numbers and offering support. It may seem like a small thing, but it’s the kind of leadership that helped sell Chubb on the Texans as more than just a good football fit — it’s a good locker room fit, too.
It appears the decision to come to Houston wasn’t part of some master plan. But in retrospect, it makes perfect sense. Chubb is a player with a no-nonsense work ethic, recovering from adversity, looking to write the next chapter of a career that’s far from over. And the Texans? They’re a team on the rise, built around guys who want to do the same.
You can watch the full interview in the video below.
And for those wondering how Joe Mixon feels about Nick Chubb, check out this video from last season. Let's just say he's a fan.
I’ve seen some speculation indicating that Joe Mixon may not be happy the Texans signed Nick Chubb. If that is what you believe, watch this clip from an interview with @greenlight pod last year & get back to me. pic.twitter.com/3vaip85esj
— Houston Stressans (@TexansCommenter) June 11, 2025
*ChatGPT assisted.
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