LAKE BUENA VISTA, Fla. — Fourteen months after major neck surgery, Nick Markakis came to spring training Thursday looking more fit and feeling stronger than he did in his first season with the Braves in 2015, when his three homers were 70 percent below his previous low.
“I feel good, man,” the veteran right fielder said before the Braves’ first full-squad workout Thursday. “I feel great. Full, successful offseason. I think I’m ready to roll.”
Markakis, 32, looked leaner and stronger after following his customary offseason routine of weightlifting and conditioning work, none of which he was permitted to do a year ago. Doctors made him rest for two months after December 2014 surgery and didn’t give him approval even to run until the week spring training began. He didn’t get cleared for full baseball activities until mid-March. This offseason, there were no restrictions.
“I like to think I did everything I can this offseason,” Markakis said. “Offseasons get shorter and shorter as you get older. It was a good offseason, a productive offseason, and I think I’m right where I need to be.”
Braves manager Fredi Gonzalez watched Markakis take coach-pitch batting practice Thursday.
“His strength is there,” Gonzalez said. “You could tell (the difference) a whole year removed from the back surgery. He looks great. (Nick) Swisher looks great, too. He’s out there running around with no knee braces.”
Markakis’ physique wasn’t all that looked different. The distinct full, dark beard he had last season was gone Thursday, with only about as much stubble on his chin as the shortly cropped hair on his head.
He said he shaved the beard Wednesday. “I got down here (to Florida) and it was a little hot for it,” Markakis said. “I’m sure it’ll come back.”
Question is, will his home-run swing come back? He and the Braves think so, although they didn’t seem as concerned by the lack of long balls as did many fans and media members a year ago.
Because while Markakis’ power was down and he had one of the lowest home run-per-plate appearance ratios in the majors, he was otherwise close to normal production, batting .297 with a .370 OBP, 73 runs and 53 RBIs for the lowest-scoring team in the majors.
Still, the lack of homers was glaring for a guy who averaged just over 15 during his nine seasons with the Orioles, before signing a four-year, $44 million free-agent contract with the Braves following the 2014 season. He never hit fewer than 10 homers before last season, and had 14 in 2014 while playing with a herniated disk in his neck.
“Before it was just flare-ups, no major pain in my neck,” he said. “When I did have the herniation it was just a matter of, if I dove or something and hit it the wrong way, it could end up pretty bad. That surgery was to go in there and prevent anything like that. If I wasn’t playing baseball, who knows, I might not have had the surgery. I’ve had it, it’s behind me, it’s not bothering me anymore. No effects from it, and I’m ready to go.”
He didn’t hit his first home run as a Brave until July 20 in his 92nd game. In his final 65 games beginning that day, Markakis hit .308 with 21 extra-base hits (three homers) and a .414 slugging percentage (he slugged just .347 in his first 91 homerless games).
Markakis had few homers but plenty of hits — the fourth-most hits in the National League (181). He played a team-high 156 games despite missing most of the 2015 spring-training schedule and not playing any Grapefruit League games until the two weeks of camp.
“I was just happy to be healthy,” he said. “At the end of the year I did everything I could. Were there some things I needed to work on? Yeah, for sure. And that’s what I addressed this offseason, and we’ll see how it goes.”
