Teammates say Markakis deserves to be All-Star

The Braves know that Nick Markakis certainly isn’t going to say he deserves to finally make the All-Star team, so plenty of them are taking every opportunity to advocate for the candidacy of their stoic right fielder and quiet veteran leader.

Markakis had two more hits, including a three-run homer, in Tuesday’s 14-1 Braves rout of the Padres, giving him a National League-leading 81 hits and a league-best 26 multi-hit games entering Wednesday’s series finale. He was batting .332 (tied with Jose Altuve for seventh in the majors) before Wednesday, with a .394 OBP and .504 slugging percentage, the average and slugging percentage, and on pace for the best of his 13-year career.

“We’ll talk for him and do all that stuff for him,” Braves slugger Freddie Freeman said of promoting Markakis’ All-Star candidacy. “His play -- there’s no reason why he should not be in the All-Star game this year. What he’s doing, he’s the ultimate pro. Goes out there and plays the game the right way, and his numbers are there to prove it this year, so hopefully we can get him in there.”

Markakis was tied with Freeman, Ozzie Albies and San Diego’s Eric Hosmer for the NL doubles lead with 18 before Wednesday and had eight home runs through 61 games, already matching his season total in 160 games last season and on pace for the third 20-homer season of his career and first since 2008.

Did we mention that Markakis is 34? The former Woodstock High School and Young Harris College standout was a first-round draft pick of the Orioles in 2003.

He’s 10-14 years older than many of his teammates, but arguably none is in better condition than Markakis and certainly none is better prepared on a daily basis.

“Have you ever seen somebody work as hard as he does? It’s insane,” said 39-year-old Braves reliever Peter Moylan, who compares Markakis with a former teammate of Moylan’s with the Royals. “He’s got his routine; he kind of reminds me of Alex Gordon. Alex Gordon has his routine down to a millisecond and won’t stray from it. (Markakis) will get his work in every single day. He’s a professional player, leads by example, not so much by this (makes talking motion with his fingers) but just by example, which is great, awesome.

“He’s a hard nut to crack, but he’s a great guy once you get in there.”

Markakis was batting .341 with runners on base before Wednesday, one of three Braves among the NL’s top 10 in that category along with Freeman (.402) and Dansby Swanson (.367). Markakis has done it while hitting cleanup behind Freeman, providing the right-handed-hitting protection for the Braves’ star first baseman that most observers believed the Braves were lacking entering the season and would need to add if they hoped to be serious contenders.

“He’s raking, and he’s a great compliment for Free (Freeman),” Moylan said. “You can’t just pitch around Free, which (opponents) have done in the past, I’m sure. And I love it because everybody on Twitter has been calling for (Markakis’) head the last couple of years. It’s awesome.”

Indeed, the social-media criticism of Markakis that was so common during much of his first three seasons with the Braves has all but vanished this season, and many are suggesting on Twitter than the Braves should re-sign Markakis rather than trade him.

His teammates and managers – Brian Snitker now and Fredi Gonzalez before him – have always praised Markakis for his steadiness and leadership, even when his power numbers were down following the vertebrae-fusion surgery he had in December 2014 that took a couple of years for him to completely recover from in terms of getting his full strength back.