Former Houston Astros slugger Evan Gattis talks cheating and using PEDs, accuses Los Angeles Dodgers of having a similar sign-stealing system
Former Houston Astros slugger Evan Gattis has been an open book on Twitter over the past two days. Beginning on Sunday, Gattis has been discussing the team's use of performance-enhancing substances. He also discussed the team's sign-stealing system during the run-up to its 2017 World Series win.
Evan Gattis admitting to steroids and trash can bangs 😂 https://t.co/zzXf4zGOsQ
Evan Gattis, who had a six-year MLB career with the Atlanta Braves and Astros, was part of Houston's much-maligned 2017 championship squad. Accusations that the Astros stole the title after defeating the New York Yankees in the American League Championship Series and the Los Angeles Dodgers in the World Series have run rampant in the years since.
In a twist on previous admissions of Astros' cheating, Gattis claimed that the Dodgers had a similar sign-stealing system in a Monday afternoon post.
@rorofosho_ Don’t get it twisted I’m pretty sure the dodgers had a system as well.
"Don’t get it twisted I’m pretty sure the dodgers had a system as well," Gattis tweeted amid a series of Twitter posts about his time with the 2017 Houston Astros.
In a 2020 interview with The Athletic, Gattis said that the 2017 Houston Astros "obviously cheated baseball and cheated fans" with the sign-stealing scandal. Then-Houston manager A.J. Hinch and general manager Jeff Luhnow were handed one-year bans after an MLB investigation into the cheating accusations and were subsequently let go by the club.
The MLB investigation confirmed that the Astros used a camera-based sign-stealing system during the 2017 playoffs and into the 2018 regular season.
During the initial stages of his Twitter admissions that began in the early-morning hours Monday, Gattis said that the home run he hit in Game 7 of the 2017 ALCS could likely be credited to the "trash can bangs" that the team was accused of using to alert their hitters as to what was coming, saying:
"Yes. I’m pretty sure. Back door cutter slider."
Gattis also complimented current San Diego Padres starting pitcher Yu Darvish for being able to overcome the sign-stealing when the Houston Astros faced him.
"The craziest thing about the cheating year is facing a guy like yu darvish and getting shut out knowing what’s coming," Gattis tweeted.
Evan Gattis played four seasons with Houston Astros
Gattis joined the Astros in 2015 after playing his first two big league seasons with the Braves. He was not re-signed by the team following the 2018 season and eventually officially retired in October 2019. For his career, he hit .248 with 139 home runs — with a career-best 32 in 2016 — and 410 RBIs.