When do you consider benching Markakis?

[xKHx]

Not really calling for it but for a RF he is batting since the allstar game he is opsing 589. His average is only 250 and his slugging is a horrid 258. Cesar Izutris out slugged Nick when he played here. Its bad 9th inning he just stared at three strikes. I think he needs a rest and more then just 1 game. We really need his help down this stretch and he is hitting nothing.

[CA-ORIOLE]

Yeah, I was going to state something similar. Sadly I'm not sure we have a better option against RHP. What's really worrying me is the possibility of enduring this next year. He's simply horrible.

[Barnaby Graves]

Not really calling for it but for a RF he is batting since the allstar game he is opsing 589. His average is only 250 and his slugging is a horrid 258. Cesar Izutris out slugged Nick when he played here. Its bad 9th inning he just stared at three strikes. I think he needs a rest and more then just 1 game. We really need his help down this stretch and he is hitting nothing.

His ISO has plummeted. Plummeted. I can't imagine it's anything except an injury. I have no idea what to make of it. I have more faith in Brian Roberts at the plate at this point.

[Barnaby Graves]

I mean I'd rather play Matt Angle in right field.

[Can_of_corn]

I have been wondering the same thing myself for a couple weeks. I'm almost despondent over what I see out of Nick these days. I'm basically hoping he is hurt, because he looks like a guy who is about to be out of baseball. I see basically ZERO power. He has caught a few balls right on the nose over the last week and they ended up as just middling line drives or medium long fly balls. I love this guy because I think he plays the game the right way and cares about the right stuff, but he is really not close to performing as a starting outfielder should over the last 2 months. I am 95% certain that Urrutia could outperform him by a large amount right now. I don't expect Buck to make the change at this point and I don't really blame him, but the brain trust is going to have some serious decision making in the offseason based on what I see from Nick (unless they know he is battling injury or weakness from a prior injury).

I'm very sad about this situation.

No matter how Nick finishes he will be, barring injury, the starting right fielder next opening day.

No way they eat 17 million and I can't imagine a trade partner for him. (assuming ownership would allow it)

[JTrea81]

Yeah, I was going to state something similar. Sadly I'm not sure we have a better option against RHP.

Henry Urrutia

[scottbbfm]

Henry Urrutia

So he can slap it to left? There's probably a little more there than that, but in doubt it will show up this year. Markakis is killing us. It's nice we have power up the middle, but we use it as a crutch on other positions, not to our advantage.

[Orioles1954]

I've never been a huge Markakis fan but it's sad to see his decline offensively. He appears much, much thinner to me than usual.

[JTrea81]

So he can slap it to left? There's probably a little more there than that, but in doubt it will show up this year. Markakis is killing us. It's nice we have power up the middle, but we use it as a crutch on other positions, not to our advantage.

Urrutia showed power in the minors, however being part of a platoon at DH, he never got a chance to get consistent ABs. Showalter refused to play him against LHP even though he had good numbers vs. LHP in the minors.

[96ludevtec]

I've been wanting to start a thread about this as well. I love Nick and it's ashame he's not playing up to his potential. He just simply can't hit. I really don't think it's an injury in my opinion. He just can't get the big hits to drive in runs or simply put the ball in play.

[Camden_yardbird]

Has the thought gone through anyone else's mind that Markakis "got clean." I look at how much smaller he is now and just have to wonder what precipitated such a huge physical decline.

The sad thing is his contract will burden the Orioles and probably eliminate much chance of being truly competitive for the length of the contract (and longer given the inability to lock up actual contributors), while large market teams usual just absorb a bad contract or two.

[scottbbfm]

Urrutia showed power in the minors, however being part of a platoon at DH, he never got a chance to get consistent ABs. Showalter refused to play him against LHP even though he had good numbers vs. LHP in the minors.

Yeah - I know he showed more power in the minors, that's why I said there's prob more there, but I doubt it shows up this year.

At this point I might be comfortable with Flaherty out there. He seems to have a clue at the plate.

[Ommaculate]

Has the thought gone through anyone else's mind that Markakis "got clean." I look at how much smaller he is now and just have to wonder what precipitated such a huge physical decline.

.

I suggested this several times, and my inbox got lit up with neg reps. Some people here are living in fantasy land.

There is no way Nick is getting benched. He is laughing all the way to the bank while the ship sinks.

[SerenityNow]

I am a big Markakis fan but this has been rough to watch. As was stated earlier in the thread when he seems to "crush" balls they are barely warning track material. The disappearance in production is baffling. On the Fox broadcast today they were saying he's one of the most underrated players in baseball, unfortunately that only used to be true.

[crawjo]

His performance this year is a major reason the Orioles aren't in a playoff position right now. It's depressing. I would definitely rest him for a couple games to see if it makes any difference. It might not, but it's worth a shot at this point.