LAKE BUENA VISTA, Fla. – Braves right fielder Nick Markakis said there’s a “95 percent chance” he will be ready for opening day Monday at Miami, and said he’s where he needs to be physically despite the lack of hits since he started played March 23.
Markakis spent four months recovering from neck surgery for a herniated disk, and was 2-for-19 with a double and one RBI in six Grapefruit League games before Thursday night, when he got a couple more hits (2-for-3) in his first game against his former team, the Orioles.
The Woodstock High School graduate spent nine seasons with Baltimore before signing a four-year, $44 million with the Braves in December. Markakis had surgery two weeks later for a condition first diagnosed in March 2013 and which worsened in 2014.
“I’m good (physically),” he said Thursday afternoon. “I’m ready to go. Just finishing up my at-bats here and getting some more innings in the field. Ready for Monday…. I think there’s a 95 percent chance I’ll be there Monday, so we’ll see.”
Markakis and the Braves have said for at least two weeks that they were planning on him being ready opening day.
“That was my whole plan, and the organization’s plan,” he said. “They weren’t rushing me. They basically asked me what I wanted to do, how I felt, and my spring’s gone pretty smoothly. I’m where I want to be right now, health-wise.”
The Braves haven’t announced their opening-day roster yet and are still checking with other teams for a possible backup outfielder available via trade. As things currently stand, the backups would likely be corner outfielder Kelly Johnson and either Joe Benson or Todd Cunningham, who both can play all three outfield positions but have limited major league experience.
Markakis was asked by a Baltimore writer Thursday if being ready for opening day was even more important to show the Orioles that he could make it back in a timely fashion from surgery that some Baltimore officials were concerned could limit him.
“It’s a personal goal. Opening day is a big day,” he said. “I’ve been out there the last eight years, and for me to be out there this year is just as important. As far as being important for anybody else – for me and my team it’s important.”
