Atlanta Braves: Projections for Nick Markakis in 2019
By Steven Teal
Nick Markakis is coming off of his best season in 10 years. The 2018 season saw the Atlanta Braves outfielder earn his first All-Star selection. There’s no way he could replicate that–or could he?
When the 2018 season began, Atlanta Braves fans didn’t know what to expect. The team was still young and didn’t have an identity yet.
What they did know was that they had a team with no expectations. However, there were expectations for certain players such as Freddie Freeman, Dansby Swanson, and Nick Markakis.
As veteran outfielder Nick Markakis came into his final contracted season with the Atlanta Braves, there was hope he would find his stride again. Kakes (as he is known by fellow players) did not disappoint as he had one of the best first-half performances I have ever seen.
There wasn’t a pitch he couldn’t hit and he always seemed to come through in the clutch. It’s safe to say he may have defined the Braves performance all season when he crushed a 3-run walk-off homer in the first game of the season to beat the Phillies.
In the first half of the season, Markakis carried a .323 average with 10 home runs and 61 RBI. He also walked 46 times and totaled 120 hits.
His on-base percentage sat at .381 and the slugging percentage was excellent at .488. Nick had a respectable OPS of .877 and the fact that he performed this well shocked all of baseball.
The Atlanta Braves right fielder had a great season overall but seemed to suffer a bit of fatigue in the second half.
In the final 68 games of 2018, Nick Markakis’ batting average dropped to .258 and he hit 4 homers with 32 RBI. His hit total was cut in half from the first part of the season as he tallied 65 of them.
| Split | G | GS | PA | AB | R | H | 2B | 3B | HR | RBI | BB | SO | BA | OBP | SLG | OPS | TB | GDP | BAbip |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1st Half | 94 | 94 | 419 | 371 | 55 | 120 | 29 | 1 | 10 | 61 | 42 | 46 | .323 | .389 | .488 | .877 | 181 | 14 | .344 |
| 2nd Half | 68 | 68 | 286 | 252 | 23 | 65 | 14 | 1 | 4 | 32 | 30 | 34 | .258 | .332 | .369 | .701 | 93 | 4 | .280 |
He and Freddie Freeman both played in all 162 games of the 2018 season and that may have had something to do with Markakis’ decline. However, if you look at his season as an entire body of work, Nick had an incredible season.
As a whole, the Atlanta Braves outfielder finished 2018 with a slash line of .297/.366/.440 along with 14 home runs and 93 RBI. He was tied for sixth in all of baseball in hits with 185 of them.
Markakis was also ninth in all of baseball when it came to doubles (43). His fWAR for the season was at 2.6 (not the best number but he was still valuable to the team).
His numbers weren’t typical for a cleanup hitter since he didn’t slug a lot of homers. Although, a majority of the season he drove in runs and produced enough to help lead Atlanta to a National League East title.
This season should see him continue to produce even though it will be in the 5 spot in the lineup instead.