Nick Markakis’ Lack of Power a Non-Issue for Braves

Nick Markakis has been a fantastic free agent signing for the Atlanta Braves this season.  The Woodstock native is hitting .302 on the year with a .392 on-base percentage in his first season with Atlanta.  One might look at his low slugging percentage of .349 and wonder, is Markakis really having that good of a year for the Braves?

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Well, Nick is coming back from offseason neck surgery that kept him out of most of the Braves strength and conditioning program this winter.  I believe it was a similar surgery that Peyton Manning underwent before signing with the Denver Broncos.  Do you think anybody gives a hoot that Manning doesn’t have the same velocity on his throws? No, he’s Peyton Manning!  Did the Seattle Mariners ever complain about Ichiro not hitting 20+ HR’s a season?  No way!  He’s going to reach 3,000 hits in the MLB before he calls it quits as a Major Leaguer.

Although Nick Markakis has yet to hit a homer as a National Leaguer, we don’t really need to fret about it.  Markakis has been a singles hitting machine in both the leadoff spot and in the middle of the order for the Atlanta Braves these first two months.  His abilities as a pure hitter have given Freddie Freeman much-needed protection in the heart of the Braves order.

He has filled the shoes of Jason Heyward in right field nicely.  As much as we wanted to believe that Jason was a 30-30 guy in Atlanta, he never reached that potential in a Braves uniform.  Markakis won two Gold Gloves while playing for the Baltimore Orioles (2011 & 2014) so Atlanta isn’t losing very much defensively in right field, if at all.  Plus, Atlanta now has Shelby Miller because of the Jason Heyward trade.  While we all wish J-Hey the best in St. Louis, I’d like to think that Braves Country likes Miller and Markakis just fine in 2015 and for the forseeable future as Heyward was a free agent at the end of this season.

While many were skeptical of John Hart signing Nick Markakis to a four-year deal in the offseason even before going under the knife, this might be the best free agent acquisition for the Braves since Tim Hudson came to Atlanta from Oakland before 2005.  Markakis is a gamer.  He does whatever it takes to win.  Along with his former teammate in Baltimore CF Adam Jones and San Francisco’s Hunter Pence, they are the three outfielders I would want on my roster if I was running a team because they all have this intrinsic quality about them.  When the game is on the line, these outfielders consistently deliver.

Atlanta should enjoy the play of Nick Markakis these next few years even if the 20+ home run power never returns.  I’ll take a .300 batting average and plus defense from anywhere on the diamond over a defensive liability hitting near the Mendoza line with some pop any day of the week.