RADIO
Nick Markakis’ 2015 was his first season not in an Orioles jersey, and his first year for the Braves saw him barely able to hit a home run. In every season of his career Markakis had hit double digit home runs, and last year for Atlanta he hit a grand total of three.
He had 686 plate appearances so don’t think it was due to playing time. He didn’t hit home runs and doesn’t steal bases anymore. He did hit .296 alongside a .370 OBP while scoring 73 runs and knocking in 53, so it wasn’t a total loss. It just felt very empty.
He shouldn’t go unowned in leagues as he did square up the ball well, posting his lowest soft contact rate in three years, but the same timeframe shows the lowest fly ball rate and pulled ball rate. He walked a lot more (8.7% to 10.2%) and appears to have changed his approach to just hit for contact and be a responsible table setter.
That’s all well and good for Atlanta, but not so much for fantasy purposes. In deeper leagues he could make for a solid source of average and able to chip in runs/RBIs, but he’s nothing more than an OF5.
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