Atlanta Braves: 5 Key Veterans John Hart Didn’t Move

I’ve always been a huge fan of Nick Markakis’ game and I was ecstatic when John Hart brought him to Atlanta on a four-year deal this offseason.  Nick is a native of Woodstock, GA and played his college ball at Young Harris.  To me, he has tremendous baseball intelligence and I like to refer to players like him as gamers.  When you have three or more on your roster, your team can win a World Series.

No, Nick Markakis isn’t the best outfielder in the National League by any stretch of the imagination.  But he does hit for a high average and gets on base a ton for the Atlanta Braves (.292 AVG and .372 OBP).  While the home run power has mostly vanished from his game in 2015 due to offseason neck surgery, a similar operation to what Peyton Manning had done prior to join the NFL’s Denver Broncos.

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Nick Markakis is a great defensive rightfielder, winning Gold Gloves and not making errors for both the Atlanta Braves and the Baltimore Orioles.  He doesn’t have the range of a Jason Heyward but he never makes a bad read on a ball and has a surprisingly strong arm in right field, considering not having an offseason because of his neck surgery.

But what I like the most about Nick Markakis is that he never gets too high or too low and always seems to keep his emotions in check.  A stoic that Spock could get behind, Markakis is the perfect on-field leader this rebuilding Atlanta Braves team needs.  When his power does return next season, Nick Markakis will have the strength to protect 1B Freddie Freeman in the heart of the 2016 Atlanta Braves batting order.

For the amount of applause and respect he got from the Baltimore Orioles crowd after 9 great years with the O’s, I have to admit that I’m very happy that we a great veteran professional manning right field for us these next several seasons.

Next: A Career Year for a North Carolinian