New Braves right fielder Nick Markakis is leaning toward surgery to repair a herniated disk in his neck, and the Braves say they were aware of the situation and were assured he’d be back for most of spring training and ready for opening day.
The Braves signed Markakis to a four-year, $44 million contract on Wednesday, and the surgery possibility had not been mentioned publicly until Friday. Markakis, 31, played the past two seasons with the injury and totaled 700 or more plate appearances each year while playing 315 of Baltimore’s 324 games in that span.
“We were absolutely aware of all the medicals, MRI, everything that was there, stem to stern,” said John Hart, Braves president of baseball operations. “We had all the information. And the feedback that we got from all the people that we discussed this with, was that he would be cleared (to play) either way. The guy played (155) games last year.”
Herniated-disk surgery typically has a recovery period of about 12 weeks. The Braves open the 2015 season in four months on April 6, and spring training begins in 11 weeks.
“I think he will be ready for spring training and ready full-speed for opening day,” Hart said. “I like to err on the side of caution, but we have a number of experts who think it could be shorter (than 12 weeks recovery).”
Markakis said, “I don’t have any (pain) now, it’s just a precautionary thing and we’ll get that taken care of and it shouldn’t be a problem.”
While Markakis won a second Gold Glove in 2014, there was speculation the disk contributed to his reduced power the past two seasons. After slugging .436 or higher in six of his first seven seasons including .471 in 2012, Markakis dipped to career-low totals in slugging percentage (.356), home runs (10) and batting average (.271) in 2013.
He had 14 home runs in 2014, but still had his second-lowest slugging percentage (.386) and batting average (.276). Markakis hit above .290 in six of seven seasons before the herniation showed up in a March 2013 MRI exam.
“Talking with Nick, (having surgery is) more of a comfort level – he thought he would be able to be stronger and better with it,” Hart said. “We discussed this with some of our people and they were absolutely in agreement. It’s a relatively short recovery for a surgery that’s not uncommon.
“I’m not sure where exactly Nick is going to do it or when, but we were supportive. That’s important, we were supportive and knew this, and were very comfortable based on a lot of research and data that we did with our medical team.”
The condition has been reported in some places as a bulging disk, but Markakis clarified Friday that it’s a herniated disk. Generally speaking, herniated disks are more painful and more frequently require surgery than bulging disks.
Coincidentally, Markakis was having his physical exam Friday morning in Atlanta when he saw Braves slugger Evan Gattis, who was seeing a Braves specialist for a previously scheduled checkup for his own disk issue. Gattis had a stint on the disabled list last summer for a bulging disk near the middle of his back.
After returning from his physical exam, Markakis met with Atlanta reporters at around noon when FoxSports.com’s Ken Rosenthal reported via Twitter that Markakis was “leaning toward surgery.” Markakis later acknowledged that was true, and said that he had been assured he’d be ready before opening day if he had the procedure.
Earlier Friday he’d downplayed the condition when asked whether it had become more bothersome in 2014.
“No, it’s been the same,” he said. “It’s nothing. Sporadically I have some stiffness.”
