Atlanta Braves: The legacy of Nick Markakis and defining statistics

Atlanta Braves – The Legacy of Nick Markakis (cont’d)

Melvin Upton and Dan Uggla had a 1.062 slugging percentage if you added them together… which is absolutely preposterous.

Chris Johnson took a step in the wrong direction that season as his .292 OBP was lower than his .321 batting average from the previous season.

At the end of the 79-win season, the Braves broke it down and traded away Justin Upton, B.J. Upton, Craig Kimbrel, Evan Gattis, Jordan Walden, Tommy La Stella, Anthony Varvaro, and Jason Heyward. Ouch.

So, forgive us if we weren’t very excited when they signed Nick Markakis. Nobody was in a good mood about anything in Braves’ country.

We knew Markakis was a solid ballplayer, but the signing reeked of a rebuild. He seemed like a token veteran to help lead a young group through rough terrain. It didn’t bode well for…you know, winning a bunch of games.

Markakis came with his own concerns. He was on the cusp of having neck-fusion surgery and there was some uncertainty if he’d be recovered by Opening Day. The MRI on his neck revealed a bulging disk that stalled the contract negotiations that would have kept him with the Orioles.

The Braves were confident in the surgeons and in Markakis that he’d be ready to go by Opening Day and when they put pen to paper they put an end to a nine-year run in Baltimore for the right fielder.

So, while we may not have had a lot of room for optimism as fans, we were getting a pretty darn good ballplayer.