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Atlanta Braves: Nick Markakis’ Strong August

By Matthew Schoettler

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Behind the Atlanta Braves’ struggles, Nick Markakis is quietly having a strong August that will hopefully continue into September and next season.

After playing nine seasons for the Baltimore Orioles, the Atlanta Braves were able to sign the consistent outfielder to a club-friendly four-year, $44 million deal. However, after signing him in the offseason of 2014, Nick Markakis received a diagnosis of a herniated disk that needed repair. He underwent successful neck fusion surgery to repair the injury.

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Now that the 2015 baseball season is in the dying stages for the Braves, Nick Markakis has turned his performances up a notch; although, his power has remained absent for the entirety of the 2015 MLB season. Despite his lack of power, Markakis has put together a very strong August that could lead to a strong September (and hopefully trickling into the 2016 season).

Since August 1st, Markakis has been an above average hitter, at the least. Through 21 games this month, Markakis carries a .333 BA, which is modest increase from his season average of .292 up to July 31st. In addition to his .333 BA for the month of August, Markakis possesses a .344 OBP. His BA and OBP are nice, but his walk rate (BB%) is gaudy for the month, a measly 2.2 percent. Thus, we can hope to expect his OBP to increase as the month furthers.

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Although Nick Markakis’ power has been absent for the season, his OPS (on base plus slugging) for the month still sits at above average, currently at .789 (league average being .700). One could attribute Markakis’ decline in power to his neck surgery, and optimists will expect his power to hopefully return in 2016.

Markakis’ bat has been a hot commodity in the Braves’ lineup, and skipper Fredi Gonzalez realizes the value he brings to the batting order. In August, Gonzalez has batted Nick Markakis 1st, 3rd, and 4th in the order. This portrays the value of a steady hitter having batting order flexibility, a relatively unsung aspect.

Standard hitting stats have been norm for years; however, more recently, sabermetrics have skyrocketed in popularity. By providing more advanced stats, coaches, players, and fans are able to dissect a player’s performance and provide a better understanding of an underlying stat.

Nick Markakis holds an above average-to-excellent stat line for numerous sabermetric stats. His first tier stats are impressive (OBP and BA); however, if you dig deeper, his advanced stats will paint a similar picture. In August, Markakis’ wOBA (weighted on-base average) sits at .340, a nice .20 points higher than the league average. Weighted on-base average measures a hitter’s overall offensive value; which lists Markakis as above-average.

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In addition to wOBA, another advanced stat that Nick Markakis succeeds at in the current month is wRC+ (weighted runs created). The league average for wRC sits at 100; however, Markakis owns a 116 wRC+, a solid 16 points over league average. wRC+ synthesizes a hitter’s slash line into one stat; thus, across the hitting board, Markakis rates as above average.

Lastly, Nick Markakis rarely strikes out, an extremely nice attribute for someone who hits in the top third of the batting order. His strikeout rate (K%) for August is in the elite category, sitting at 5.4 percent. Fangraphs lists anything under 10% percent as being excellent, and Markakis’ strikeout rate is well below that number.

Although Markakis’ walk rate (BB%) and home runs are down for the month (home runs have been absent all season), Nick has put together a solid month that should not go unnoticed. He has been a boon to an anemic offense and hopefully will continue to trend in a positive direction for the rest of the season.

Next: Julio Teheran: Strong August, Promising September?

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