What is wrong with Nick?

[Phantom]

All Nick has to do is throw off one good month like those, and suddenly his numbers look just fine.

Well said. The same consistent production that has us to believe that Nick will never be a 30-35 HR player should lead us to believe that the start to this season is not the real Nick.

[Runs2the1Show]

All Nick has to do is throw off one good month like those, and suddenly his numbers look just fine.

Great point. However, it is concerning that he does seem to be looking a bit thinner than in the past. While that wouldn't directly affect his doubles, it would affect his ability to hit it out.

I always say that you know Markakis is on when hes hitting opposite field doubles that are ripped over the SS's head. It looks like he is making more of an effort to just go with the pitch, but he still has some terrible AB's where he just rolls over the ball and grounds out.

[Frobby]

Great point. However, it is concerning that he does seem to be looking a bit thinner than in the past. While that wouldn't directly affect his doubles, it would affect his ability to hit it out.

I always say that you know Markakis is on when hes hitting opposite field doubles that are ripped over the SS's head. It looks like he is making more of an effort to just go with the pitch, but he still has some terrible AB's where he just rolls over the ball and grounds out.

I feel like 75% of Nick's outs come on grounders to the right side of the IF and lazy fly balls to LF. I agree with you, when you see Nick hitting doubles in the gap, that's when you know he is on his game.

[Sports Guy]

What the hell was he swinging at in that at bat in the big inning? First pitch, horrible at bat.

[Runs2the1Show]

The stat that is really bothersome is that Nick is hitting .244 with runners in scoring position, and .247 with runners on. For a guy who bats at the top of the order every game, that just wont get it done.

[Sports Guy]

Dating back to September of 2009, Nick has 1025 plate appearances. In those PA, he has a total of 87 RBIs.

In his last 336 PA, dating back to Sept of 2010, Nick has 9 doubles and 8 homers. He has 16 homers in his last 906 plate appearances.(starting beginning of last season through now)

He isn't hitting for power and isn't driving in runs.

[Guest rochester]

Dating back to September of 2009, Nick has 1025 plate appearances. In those PA, he has a total of 87 RBIs.

In his last 336 PA, dating back to Sept of 2010, Nick has 9 doubles and 8 homers. He has 16 homers in his last 906 plate appearances.(starting beginning of last season through now)

He isn't hitting for power and isn't driving in runs.

Agree... I am not sure how he gets a pass on here every time... by looking at the numbers it sure sounds like his "streakiness" may be worse than Scott's...I like Nick but it's pretty clear that he has regressed - even moreso when one thinks of what a progression would have meant.

[Sports Guy]

Agree... I am not sure how he gets a pass on here every time... by looking at the numbers it sure sounds like his "streakiness" may be worse than Scott's...I like Nick but it's pretty clear that he has regressed - even moreso when one thinks of what a progression would have meant.

There is another side to this though...As disturbing as those numbers are, we have to remember the numbers Frobby kept pointing out last year about his lack of oppurtunities to drive in runs.

On top of that, this year we see a guy with a 21.6% line drive rate. Last year, it was just under 18%, which was a jump of over 1% from the previous season.

Last year's LD% was right in line with this 2007 season, when his OPS was 848...and this year, thus far, his LD% is higher than it was in 2008, when his OPS was almost 900.

This year, his GB% is down and his FB% is right in line with his career averages. Last year and thus far this year, his HR/FB% is really low but we also saw a big drop in that in 2009 as well.

I have been saying for years that I feel Nick needs to put on some muscle.

Perhaps he is just content being a singles and doubles hitter now but if that's the case, as Tony pointed out the other day, we should be seeing a 320/400 line from him and we aren't.

So, his peripheral batting stats show that he should be doing better but this is also not a fluke SSS either.

[Frobby]

There is another side to this though...As disturbing as those numbers are, we have to remember the numbers Frobby kept pointing out last year about his lack of oppurtunities to drive in runs.

On top of that, this year we see a guy with a 21.6% line drive rate. Last year, it was just under 18%, which was a jump of over 1% from the previous season.

Last year's LD% was right in line with this 2007 season, when his OPS was 848...and this year, thus far, his LD% is higher than it was in 2008, when his OPS was almost 900.

This year, his GB% is down and his FB% is right in line with his career averages. Last year and thus far this year, his HR/FB% is really low but we also saw a big drop in that in 2009 as well.

I have been saying for years that I feel Nick needs to put on some muscle.

Perhaps he is just content being a singles and doubles hitter now but if that's the case, as Tony pointed out the other day, we should be seeing a 320/400 line from him and we aren't.

So, his peripheral batting stats show that he should be doing better but this is also not a fluke SSS either.

It was a mix last year. Nick had a low number of opportunities with runners on base or in scoring position. When he had those opportunities, he hit very well for average (better than with bases empty), but got very few extra base hits in those situations. Even though he had 40+ doubles, not that many of them came with runners on base.

I don't believe in making excuses for Nick. He's my favorite player, but I have clear eyes. 4 doubles in two months is substandard, and frankly that is what worries me the most. He's on pace for 14 homers, and in a small sample size, that's not very far out of whack with a 20-homer season. But to be on pace for 14 doubles, when he is usually in the 40's in that category, one does have to wonder what is going on.

Still, all we can do is wait and watch. He's still good enough to play every day, and he's going to. He'll either start hitting more for power, or he won't. We will see.

[Tony-OH]

I think Sports Guy and Frobby have nailed this thread, but he's my two cents. For me, Markakis needs to make a fundamental change in philosophy and go into a Wade Boggs type of approach. I really think the lack of home runs as a right-fielder got to him and he tried to start pulling more balls for power. He has the talent to be a .300 hitter but he needs to be that guy that sprays the ball around. Forget about the home runs. If Markakis could settle into the hitter he should be, he can be an outstanding number two hitter or even a solid leadoff guy. He's probably never going to be a super star, but I could see him settling into a Paul O'Neill type of player and that's a solid regular on any club.

[Moose Milligan]

I think Sports Guy and Frobby have nailed this thread, but he's my two cents. For me, Markakis needs to make a fundamental change in philosophy and go into a Wade Boggs type of approach. I really think the lack of home runs as a right-fielder got to him and he tried to start pulling more balls for power. He has the talent to be a .300 hitter but he needs to be that guy that sprays the ball around. Forget about the home runs. If Markakis could settle into the hitter he should be, he can be an outstanding number two hitter or even a solid leadoff guy. He's probably never going to be a super star, but I could see him settling into a Paul O'Neill type of player and that's a solid regular on any club.

It'd be awesome to see a .359 season in Nick.

It's frustrating to see this decline but SG and Frobby have indeed brought up several great points here.

He does seem to be hitting more pop-ups this year. IMO, it's almost at a Gibbons-esque rate.

[Sports Guy]

It'd be awesome to see a .359 season in Nick.

It's frustrating to see this decline but SG and Frobby have indeed brought up several great points here.

He does seem to be hitting more pop-ups this year. IMO, it's almost at a Gibbons-esque rate.

His IFFB% is an astounding 19.7%!!!! It has never been higher than 7.1% in any season for him. That is insane.

Another note that while his BABIP is climbing, it is still only 276, which is around 50 points below where it normally is...He did have a lot of bad luck to start the year.

[Sports Guy]

Speaking of bad luck....

[Jersey O's fan]

This a reply to post #72 by SG (my iPad is not letting me scroll down in the reply box).

Not all line drives are created equal. Nick's LD Iso-P by season:

2006 - .250

2007 - .273

2008 - .361

2009 - .224

2010 - .207

2011 - .064 (before last night)

Where did you get that from?

What a great stat. And how telling.

Why has the man gotten so skinny?

[El Gordo]

His IFFB% is an astounding 19.7%!!!! It has never been higher than 7.1% in any season for him. That is insane.

Another note that while his BABIP is climbing, it is still only 276, which is around 50 points below where it normally is...He did have a lot of bad luck to start the year.

It's hard to have a high BABIP when 20% of those balls in play are popups.