Markakis is the Key!

[Brendan25]

Nick is on fire! 3 for 5 with a HR tonight to raise his BA to .292 and his OPS to .830. In July, he had 31 hits in 19 games. His return has been HUGE for this team.

By the way, Hunter said he was batting .280 vs. LHP, and that was before his infield single and his HR vs. LHP in this game. I swear he was hitting about .220 vs. LHP when he got injured. So, he has really crushed LHP since his return. They also showed a graphic showing that he has been killing pitches on the inner part of the plate. Remember all that talk at the start of the year about how Nick couldn't turn on an inside pitch anymore? So much for that!

As of right now Nick is hitting .299 with a .365 OBP against lefties.

[The Maestro]

It's nice to see Nick locked in at the plate like he appears to be right now. Hopefully this will carry over thru the month of August. With Hardy struggling the way he has, I'd be tempted to move him down in the order and have Quintanilla slide into the 2 hole. The more opportunities with RISP for Davis and Jonesy, the better.

[Frobby]

.378/.416/.524 for Nick in July. July has always been a very good month for Nick -- he is a .323/.380/.497 career hitter in July.

That is his second-best month. His best month? August: .311/.378/.519. It's been his best HR and RBI month as well.

[Lucky Jim]

.378/.416/.524 for Nick in July. July has always been a very good month for Nick -- he is a .323/.380/.497 career hitter in July.

That is his second-best month. His best month? August: .311/.378/.519. It's been his best HR and RBI month as well.

Fingers crossed. With Hardy showing some life, Wieters hitting the ball hard yesterday, Reynolds not being a complete null entity and Jones carrying forward, we may actually start scoring some runs again.

[Aglets]

Don't know if people noticed, but Nick didn't strikeout yesterday either.

So 1 K in the entire month of July (from the 13th to the 31st anyway). Considering he sees the most PA of anyone else in the lineup that is even more impressive.

Over under on the number of K's for him in August?

i'll set it at 2.5 heh

Should be interesting to watch for sure.

[Lucky Jim]

Maybe he's healthier? I know that O'Neill was remarking on his ability to get to inside FBs (which we all know he's struggled with from time-to-time). And we know that he can serve pitches into LF all day. I've been tough on Nick - perhaps unfairly, given his injuries - because his batspeed looked sub-par and he wasn't hitting with authority. A healthy Markakis who can actually put up an .820-.850ish OPS (I'll take higher) would be a huge internal boon to this team.

[The Rick]

If Nick is able to finish strong and end up in the .825-.850 OPS range, in this run environment, we will be looking at vintage Nick here. He's been exciting to watch since his return. I loved seeing him admire is blast last night for a couple of seconds.

[Moose Milligan]

Maybe he's healthier? I know that O'Neill was remarking on his ability to get to inside FBs (which we all know he's struggled with from time-to-time). And we know that he can serve pitches into LF all day. I've been tough on Nick - perhaps unfairly, given his injuries - because his batspeed looked sub-par and he wasn't hitting with authority. A healthy Markakis who can actually put up an .820-.850ish OPS (I'll take higher) would be a huge internal boon to this team.

I think he's healthier. Last year it was the ribs that no one knew about until the season was over and he's had his wrist injury this year.

Also think that hitting #1 has changed his perspective on what he needs to do. He doesn't have to be the man in the lineup anymore, he just has to do what he does best, which is get on base.

[Orioles4Life21]

Nick has been such a huge factor for us since returning hopefully he can keep this up because the offense is hot!

[Frobby]

Maybe he's healthier? I know that O'Neill was remarking on his ability to get to inside FBs (which we all know he's struggled with from time-to-time). And we know that he can serve pitches into LF all day. I've been tough on Nick - perhaps unfairly, given his injuries - because his batspeed looked sub-par and he wasn't hitting with authority. A healthy Markakis who can actually put up an .820-.850ish OPS (I'll take higher) would be a huge internal boon to this team.

Hard to say. Like most hitters, Nick has his hot and cold spells. He looks really dialed in right now and hopefully he can ride the wave for as long as possible.

[Brendan25]

How much of this has to do with him hitting leadoff, if anything?

[Brendan25]

Have yourself a second half Nick Markakis!!

[accinfo]

Hey, are you in Pasadena, Maryland, or Pasadena, California ???

Because if you're in Pasadena, California, we'll be expecting you to make it to at least one of the Angels games later this week. :laughlol:

http://forum.orioleshangout.com/forums/showthread.php/122861-Calling-All-So-Cal-O-s-Fans-vs-Angels-Next-Weekend

Pasadena MD

[Ampontan]

How much of this has to do with him hitting leadoff, if anything?

I think he looks different at the plate. Maybe it's my imagination, but last year he looked slouched in the batter's box. It was kind of a wimpy presentation. Now's crouching more and looks coiled.

Whether that has been a factor or not, I don't know, but I do think he made a change.

[OFFNY]

How much of this has to do with him hitting leadoff, if anything?

I'm not sure, but I believe that at least part of the reason for Markakis' offensive resurgence is due to the large chunk of time that he missed because of his injury. That was the first time in Markakis' career that he had a bona fide injury that has caused him to miss any sort of real time. And you know that he was just dying to get back in there and play the whole time (6 weeks). In the sense of "absence makes the heart grow fonder" and/or "you don't know what you have until you lose it," I think that it's quite possible that on some level, Nick may have had a new-found appreciation for how much he actually loves to play baseball, and realized how much he misses it when he can't play, hence maybe he re-charged his physical and emotional baseball battery.