Markakis speaks out

[byrdz]

Markakis: "You can have anybody come here and you still are going to have a couple of guys who are not going to change their approach and fix it. It’s worthless. You can point your fingers here and there, but it is what it is. You’re in the big leagues. You have to change your approach on your own. If you go up there clueless, you’re going to come back [to the dugout] clueless. It’s that simple."

Let the speculation begin on who he is talking about.

My guess..... Matt Wieters is one of those guys...

Maybe an easier question to answer is, who isn't he talking about?

[ChaosLex]

Watch Scott say he "doesn't appreciate" the team being called out and that he's going to have a talk with Kakes before tonight's game. :laughlol:

[Old#5fan]

The Sun has an expanded version of the article up now, with some additional info from Nick:

In effect he is saying our hitters are stupid since they are "busting their butts" but don't have a plan. If you compare some of their "stupid" ABs to other teams its is easily observed as he said. I was watching the Tigers and Nats last night and Detroit routinely advanced runners and hit sac lies as if it was easy. They stood out as being better than the Nats in that regard and won the game handily. It seems good teams do these things as a matter of routine while bad teams struggle to do it.

[weams]

No way these quotes are from Nick. There is not an "Umm" or "Uh" in them.

Yeah, Definitely...

[BRobinsonfan]

NO question in my mind thats directed at Wieters. Jones, IN MY OPINION, atleast looks like he tries to adjust, make changes, etc (except on that outside slider :laughlol:) whereas nothing has changed with Wieters approach.

I think Jones has got to be one he's talking about. If Adam is as obstinate about taking advice at the plate as he is reported to be about fielding then there's definitely a problem there since he's got a .285 OBP - and that's after he's started to hit better!

I mean, 8 walks in 263 at bats is freaking ridiculous! Even Corey Patterson has 9 walks in 115 at bats.

[Old#5fan]

I think Jones has got to be one he's talking about. If Adam is as obstinate about taking advice at the plate as his about fielding then there's definitely a problem there since he's got a .285 OBP - and that's after he's started to hit better!

I mean, 8 walks in 263 at bats is freaking ridiculous! Even Corey Patterson has 9 walks in 115 at bats.

Maybe he is being thrown a lot of strikes? You cannot walk if they throw strikes more than balls! Corey Patterson also has the same number of homers as Markakis, it doesn't make him more of a power hitter though does it?

[LookinUp]

I really like that Nick is speaking up. What he's saying about dumb approaches is painfully obvious to most observers. I just can't tell if he's saying that Crowley's helping to provide a game plan and players are just ignoring it, or if they're supposed to develop their own game plan (not TC's job).

I don't know which statement is worse, frankly. Is there no team coordination when facing a pitcher? It sure seems like there isn't. To me, that means that the team needs coaching to be much better or they need to learn how to give the players a swift kick in the rear end for not listening...in which case the coaches still aren't effectively doing their jobs.

It's just incredible to me that some players continually ignore advice, if that's indeed what's happening. I think the latter is likely true...that they're not getting direct enough advice.

Hard to tell from his quotes though.

[waroriole]

Maybe he is being thrown a lot of strikes? You cannot walk if they throw strikes more than balls! Corey Patterson also has the same number of homers as Markakis, it doesn't make him more of a power hitter though does it?

Either you're not watching the games, or you're making another argument to get people to pay attention to you. Jones chases balls all the time. How many times has he struck out on the low and away slider?

[AgentOrange]

Maybe Markakis should be our hitting coach?

[TGO]

By the way, "see ball hit ball" is word for word exactly what Aubrey Huff said his own approach to hitting was a couple years ago. I don't have the article but I believe it was in reference to Luke Scott's obsessive note-taking on opposing pitchers and his ABs.

[JTrea81]

Yeah, Definitely...

You know...

[Frobby]

Dude, relax. You have missed his point altogether. Go back and read it and you will see that he is saying that TC can give the guys all of the instruction they need but if they don't follow the "plan" there isn't a damn thing he can do about it! It is that simple and considering Soxhotcorner actually played in the Majors for years, I am inclined to think he knows what he is talking about.

Unless I am mistaken, Soxhotcorner played in the minors but never made it to The Show. Still, he has more insight into how coaching works at the professional level than most of us do.

[Ohfan67]

Maybe he is being thrown a lot of strikes? You cannot walk if they throw strikes more than balls! Corey Patterson also has the same number of homers as Markakis, it doesn't make him more of a power hitter though does it?

I don't really think you mean that. I know you watch the games and it has been obvious for most of this season that pitchers don't need to throw strikes to Jones to get him out.

[Old#5fan]

Either you're not watching the games, or you're making another argument to get people to pay attention to you. Jones chases balls all the time. How many times has he struck out on the low and away slider?

I know he has, I was just trying to yank his chain the way he often yanks mine, but he didn't faill for it YOU DID!

[OnlyO'sFanInLV]

I think it's interesting that Markakis mentions the need for a 40 HR guy in the lineup, and then also mentions that you don't need guys that can hit a lot of HR's.

Nick has lost so much of his power this season and looks frail to be honest. We don't even have a leader who has an opinion that means anything. When you have three HR's and look like a slap hitter most of the time I don't think you have a lot of room to criticize others. I know Nick is patient, but times like last night show that he's TOO patient sometimes as well.

I don't think he's lost his power because when he squares the ball up it's hit hard. I'm guessing nick is a guy who goes up to the plate looking to hit the ball hard not looking to drop a bomb every at bat. and when u go up to the plate looking to hit the ball hard you'll go through streaks were your not hitting home runs and you'll go through streaks where you hit them in bunches. And hitting home runs doesn't give u leadership. U could say Nicks power number are similar to Derek Jeter's if u look at there career numbers and hes had years with only ten eleven home runs. Yet, he has leadership.