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Do The Atlanta Braves Have A Problem in Right Field

By Fred Owens

Oct 2, 2015; Atlanta, GA, USA; Atlanta Braves right fielder Nick Markakis (22) hits an RBI single against the St. Louis Cardinals during the eighth inning at Turner Field. The Braves defeated the Cardinals 4-0. Mandatory Credit: Dale Zanine-USA TODAY Sports
Oct 2, 2015; Atlanta, GA, USA; Atlanta Braves right fielder Nick Markakis (22) hits an RBI single against the St. Louis Cardinals during the eighth inning at Turner Field. The Braves defeated the Cardinals 4-0. Mandatory Credit: Dale Zanine-USA TODAY Sports /
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Jun 27, 2015; Pittsburgh, PA, USA; Atlanta Braves right fielder Nick Markakis (22) singles against the Pittsburgh Pirates during the first inning at PNC Park. Mandatory Credit: Charles LeClaire-USA TODAY Sports
Jun 27, 2015; Pittsburgh, PA, USA; Atlanta Braves right fielder Nick Markakis (22) singles against the Pittsburgh Pirates during the first inning at PNC Park. Mandatory Credit: Charles LeClaire-USA TODAY Sports /

The Silent Spring of Nick Markakis

In the six games leading up to last night’s slug fest with the Astros Nick the stick went 0-17 with six strikeouts; he didn’t even manage a walk during that span. As a result his spring training line was a dismal .152/.194/.242/.436 before the Astros game and rose just a tick to .189/.225/.270/.495

Yes, it is spring training and the sample size is small so the numbers don’t mean anything on their own but this is the worst spring training Markakis has had.

Markaksi spring numbers
Markaksi spring numbers /

The healthy Markakis of 2016 looks worse at the plate than the recovering from surgery Markakis of 2015 yet if he was squaring up pitches and hitting them hard for outs I wouldn’t be writing this; but he isn’t.   I had the opportunity to watch him up close in three games last week where he looked lost at the plate against pitchers he should have handled.

I saw him strike out on pitches at his shoulders or higher and swing very late of league average fastballs; that isn’t typical of Markakis and to me it seemed he was frustrated at his inability to figure things out.

I spoke off the record with a couple of veteran observers who’ve watched most of his games this spring and both confirmed that Markakis seemed to be searching unsuccessfully for an answer from the time he arrived.  The projected lineup isn’t going to score a boat load of runs if Markakis hits as he did last year, if his bat is visiting Dan Uggla’s the season would likely be even worse.

Next: It's just spring right?

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