October 09, 2010|By Jeff Zrebiec, The Baltimore Sun
Nick Markakis spent the first week of his offseason on a bear-hunting trip in New Brunswick, Canada, miles removed from any lingering debate about his play during the 2010 season.
In an uneven six months, Markakis joined Hall of Fame company, yet established career lows in homers, RBIs and slugging percentage. The Orioles' normally mild-mannered outfielder earned his first career ejection, publicly called out his teammates about their offensive approach and aired his concerns in a meeting with team owner Peter Angelos.
If it was not the most difficult season of Markakis' young career, it was certainly the most scrutinized as his declining power numbers made him the target of mounting criticism from Orioles fans for the first time.
"If you are trying to find something wrong with Markakis, I mean, wow," Orioles center fielder Adam Jones said. "If you are trying to find problems with him, there are way more things that you should be worried about. He's the most consistent player that we have. He's the face of the franchise, our franchise player."
That designation — along with the six-year, $66.1 million deal Markakis signed before the 2009 season — brings certain expectations. The 26-year-old met some of them, batting .297 with a .370 on-base percentage, smacking 45 doubles to join Hall of Famers Joe Medwick and Tris Speaker as the only players in history to post four consecutive seasons of 43 doubles or more, hitting .361 against left-handed pitching and playing a Gold Glove-caliber right field.
But he hit just 12 home runs, four fewer than he had in his rookie season in 2006 and a total that ranked him 25th among American League outfielders. He also drove in just 60 runs, fewer than unheralded AL outfielders such as Ryan Raburn, David Murphy and Franklin Gutierrez.
"I think the doubles and the batting average speak for themselves. He's had a good year for us," Orioles president of baseball operations Andy MacPhail said. "The power numbers haven't been what they have been in the past, but there is a lot more to it than just hitting home runs. We're delighted to have him. We're delighted to have him locked up for several more years. I'm not worried about him. It's just that simple. He's the least of our concerns."
Markakis would concede only that his fifth big league season was an up-and-down one. He was satisfied that he increased his walk total (73) and on-base percentage after big drop-offs in those categories in 2009. He was happy to flirt with a .300 batting average until the final day of the season. He was also pleased that he never changed his approach even as many baseball pundits questioned why he was content to rack up opposite-field singles and doubles rather than trying to yank more pitches into the right-field seats.
However, he also acknowledged that the absence of leadoff hitter Brian Roberts for much of the season, along with the struggles of the lineup, forced him to press at times and ultimately took him out of his comfort zone.
"It's just been a tough year, not only for me, but as an organization," Markakis said. "The first half was probably the toughest thing I've ever experienced in the big leagues. But at the end of the season, my batting average was there, I got my doubles like I usually do and I got on base as much as I could. You look at RBIs and homers, there's always an answer and a solution to that. It was just one of those years. You have to take what they offer you, and you look forward to making those adjustments and coming back strong next year."
Markakis made no excuses for his disappointing home run and RBI totals, though there have been plenty of people to weigh in with explanations, most concerning the absence of a proven leadoff hitter, such as Roberts, ahead of him and a legitimate slugger behind him.
With Roberts out of the lineup for nearly 3 1/2 months and the Orioles unable to find a suitable replacement in the leadoff spot, Markakis had 31 fewer at-bats with runners in scoring position than he had in 2009. That — and the fact that he had only nine extra-base hits in 139 at-bats with runners in scoring position — contributed to his RBI total being what it was despite his having a .338 average in such situations.
"In his entire five-year career, he had never played without his leadoff hitter, and [Roberts] makes a big difference," Jones said. "When I was hitting up there in that lineup, I wasn't getting on base for him. He was getting his hits, but there was nobody on base so he was just getting singles and doubles. There was nobody to drive in. Even if he hit 40 home runs, he wasn't going to have all that many RBIs."
Asked specifically about his home run total and why an inordinate number of his hits went to the opposite field, Markakis said he was fed a steady diet of outside pitches, forcing him to settle for singles or walks. He said he saw very few fastballs on the inner half of the plate, his favorite pitch to drive.
