The Braves have a few hitters — Ender Inciarte, Nick Markakis, Adonis Garcia – who’ve lately been hitting as the team hoped they would. They just need to get a couple more going with them. (And get better pitching than they’ve had lately, but that’s another story.)
Inciarte took a 13-game hitting streak into Wednesday night’s game against the Pirates, and the center fielder had a .349 average (22-for-63) and .391 on-base percentage in 17 games since the All-Star break. This after batting just .227 with a 2.94 OBP in 59 games during an injury-plagued first half.
“He’s worked really hard and he’s kind of getting it going,” Braves interim manager Brian Snitker said. “So we’re just kind of riding the wave here right now with him…. I never saw him (with Arizona), but I was just talking to the guys who saw him last year, and they said this is more what they saw.”
Markakis hit .315 with a .396 OBP, four home runs, 12 RBIs and a .494 slugging percentage in 24 games beginning July 4, including .365 (19-for-52) with a .450 OBP in his past 14 games before Wednesday.
“Steady as you can be, consistent,” Snitker said. “We need a two-out RBI, it seems like he’s right there. “Nick’s really been swinging that bat good. Just patient. He’s on base all the time, big hits. You look at the back of his baseball card and that’s what he does.”
Garcia’s past 20 games before Wednesday were similarly productive: .370 (30-for-81) with nine doubles, three homers, 11 RBIs and a .593 slugging percentage.
