Thoughts on Markakis’ Slump
Photo: Greg Mac
[Note: I wrote down these thoughts after Saturday’s game but had trouble posting them. These numbers do not account for his 3-for-5 performance on Sunday.]
First, some raw numbers:
In 555 at-bats, Orioles stellar right-fielder Nick Markakis has 156 hits, including 26 doubles, a triple, and 12 homeruns. He also has 51 walks and 74 strikeouts. His season average? .281. That’s still well above the Mendoza line, and a far-cry better than Chris Davis.
But in his last ten games from Saturday night back, in 43 at-bats, he has only four hits. One of those hits was a homerun that started a 9-1 rout against Tampa Bay. And during that time, he has struck out 10 times. His average during this ten-game frame? .093.
Not good.
But I refuse to give up on the man some on Twitter are calling Baltimore’s Greek God. Every player encounters a slump now and then. Even Cal Ripken, Jr., was told my many talking head in the sports world that he should quit the streak for the good of the team because he was in a long-term funk for a while. And yet, he continued to play. So should Nick.
While Markakis will never get to Cal’s number of consecutive games played, a quick check of the stats proves he’s an everyday player. In 2012, he was injured and played only (only!) 104 games. In his first year in the majors, 147. Beyond that, it’s been 157 or more games in a 162-game season. Let’s see you miss only five days of work this year.
Add to that Nick’s stellar glove.
A fielding percentage of .994 isn’t just good — it is stellar! The man had only two errors in 2012, none since. Over 1,300 games, 2,742 chances, 18 errors. You can’t get much better performance than that. Nick should continue doing what he does best: Play ball!
He’ll wake his bat up soon enough. Maybe it’s “up and about” for the rest of the season.
