DENVER – For an 11-year veteran playing for a team that, realistically speaking, was eliminated from playoff contention by the second month of the season, Nick Markakis isn’t showing any signs of phoning it in or succumbing to the dog days of summer as the 100-game mark nears.
Markakis was 8-for-22 (.364) with a .440 OBP in six games since the All-Star break entering Thursday’s series opener at Colorado, and here was the statistic that had people talking: Markakis had not swung and missed a pitch since July 9, the next-to-last game before the All-Star break.
Not one swing-and-miss in the Braves’ past seven games before Thursday, the longest active streak in the majors according to MLB Stat of the Day.
“That’s something,” said Braves interim manager Brian Snitker, when a reporter brought it to Snitker’s attention before batting practice Thursday. “With the strikeouts and everything you see (these days), that’s an unbelievable stat.”
Markakis had 57 strikeouts in 406 plate appearances before Thursday, a rate of one every 7.1 PAs. While that’s quite good in today’s game, it was a little higher than his rate in recent years and just outside the leaders in the National League. (Markakis hasn’t struck out 100 times in a season since 2008.)
If there was a current Braves player whom Snitker would guess might go 29 plate appearances (and counting) without a strikeout, Markakis would be the one.
“He’s got such a great eye at the plate,” Snitker said. “He’s as disciplined a hitter as I’ve seen. It’s almost like if he takes a pitch, if probably was a ball. I mean, he’s got a really good eye, good feel for the strike zone. His at-bats, he really slows everything down to where he stays with balls a long time. He doesn’t go out of the strike zone, obviously.”
As for as overall offense, it’s been an unusually streaky season for Markakis, who led the majors in doubles in the first month and hit .305 with 11 doubles, 19 RBIs and a .412 OBP and a .439 slugging percentage in his first 22 games through April 28.
That was followed by a 31-game stretch through June 4 in which he hit just .190 with four extra-base hits, 10 RBIs and a .281 OBP and .241 slugging percentage.
Beginning with a three-hit game June 5 at Dodger Stadium, Markakis had a .288 average in his past 40 games before Thursday, with 13 extra-base hits (including four of his five homers this season), 18 RBIs and a .333 OBP and .419 slugging percentage.
“I’ve always said it’s not how you start, it’s how you finish,” Markakis said Thursday, speaking not just about himself but his team. “Because finishing up is the hardest thing in this sport. You’ve just got to go out there with a good attitude, good mindset, stick with your game plan and finish up strong.”
Markakis has had plenty of experience fighting through the dog days of a season in games that don’t matter much. He played on Orioles teams that lost 92 or more games in six consecutive seasons through 2011, and a 95-loss team last year in his first season with the Braves.
“This is the last 2 ½ months of the season and, like I said, I’ve always preached about it’s not how you start, it’s how you finish,” said Markakis, who hit .300 in his last 10 games before Thursday with three homers, a .349 OBP and a .550 slugging percentage.
