Braves right fielder Nick Markakis is still putting the ball in play at about the same clip as his previous nine years in the majors and he’s hitting for a higher average than his career mark.
But entering Friday none of those hits had gone for home runs for Markakis, who had 141 home runs entering this year. Markakis, the clean-up hitter, had a team-leading 83 hits in 276 at-bats (.301) but had produced just 21 RBIs.
Markakis had neck surgery soon after the Braves signed him on Dec. 4. He wasn’t able to strength train like usual last off season as he recovered and said he doesn’t have his normal strength.
“It is what it is,” Markakis said Friday. “It’s not where I want it to be. I’ve done my best. I’ve battled. I’ve made my adjustments. I’m just going to continue to do what I’ve been doing.”
Entering Friday Markakis had hit 1.21 ground balls for every fly ball (including live drives). Only 16 players in the majors had a higher ground ball/fly ball ratio.
One encouraging sign for Markakis was that he’d hit line drives on 31 percent of the balls he put in play, which is well above his career norm. It’s possible some line drives will become home runs as he regains strength.
Markakis said the challenge is that he’s not able to do much strength training during the season.
“It’s hard, especially if you play every day,” he said. “To be out there every day, it’s tough to do what you want to do (with weights). You’ve got to pick and choose your days and pick your spots. You’ve got to be careful with it, too.”
