{"id":33938,"date":"2020-07-06T12:50:43","date_gmt":"2020-07-06T16:50:43","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lastwordonbaseball.com\/?p=33938"},"modified":"2020-07-06T12:50:43","modified_gmt":"2020-07-06T16:50:43","slug":"atlanta-braves-nick-markakis-opts-out","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/2020\/07\/06\/atlanta-braves-nick-markakis-opts-out\/","title":{"rendered":"Atlanta Braves Nick Markakis Opts Out"},"content":{"rendered":"<h2>Nick Markakis Opts Out<\/h2>\n<p>The <a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonbaseball.com\/mlb-teams\/atlanta-braves\/\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Atlanta Braves<\/a> will play the compressed 2020 season without veteran outfielder <strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.baseball-reference.com\/players\/m\/markani01.shtml?utm_campaign=Linker&amp;utm_source=direct&amp;utm_medium=linker-\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Nick Markakis<\/a><\/strong>. The 36-year-old will sit out the year over issues related to health and safety during the ongoing pandemic. Braves beat writer Mark Bowman announced the decision early Monday morning.<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-width=\"550\" data-dnt=\"true\">\n<p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">Brian Snitker just announced Nick Markakis has elected to opt out for this season.<\/p>\n<p>&mdash; Mark Bowman (@mlbbowman) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/mlbbowman\/status\/1280158628419457026?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">July 6, 2020<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n<p>Markakis has been with the Braves since 2015. Although he is getting older, he continued to produce in 2019, hitting .285\/.356\/.420 with nine home runs. However, his 98 OPS+ was sharply down from the 116 he posted in 2018. His plate discipline is the biggest thing keeping him in the game, but he is also a serviceable outfielder if expectations are kept low.<\/p>\n<p>Markakis first debuted with the <a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonbaseball.com\/mlb-teams\/baltimore-orioles\/\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Baltimore Orioles<\/a> in 2006 after they drafted him in the first round of the 2003 Amateur Draft. The <a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonbaseball.com\/mlb-teams\/cincinnati-reds\/\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Cincinnati Reds<\/a> tried to draft him in both 2001 and 2002, but he held off until he got the coveted first-round selection. Over 9,000 plate appearances, he has posted a career slash line of .288\/.358\/.420 with 188 home runs. Markakis has never been a power hitter, but his on-base ability is what teams love. He has also been a solid defender, winning three gold gloves.<\/p>\n<h3>What This Means for the Future<\/h3>\n<p>Markakis was not going to be one of Atlanta&#8217;s primary outfielders in 2020. The team already has <strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.baseball-reference.com\/players\/a\/acunaro01.shtml?utm_campaign=Linker&amp;utm_source=direct&amp;utm_medium=linker-\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Ronald Acu\u00f1a Jr<\/a><\/strong>, <strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.baseball-reference.com\/players\/i\/inciaen01.shtml?utm_campaign=Linker&amp;utm_source=direct&amp;utm_medium=linker-\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Ender Inciarte<\/a><\/strong>, and the newly-signed <strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.baseball-reference.com\/players\/o\/ozunama01.shtml?utm_campaign=Linker&amp;utm_source=direct&amp;utm_medium=linker-\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Marcell Ozuna<\/a><\/strong> projected as starters. However, Markakis would have been a designated hitter option or a top bench-bat. His spot could now go to a youngster like <strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.baseball-reference.com\/register\/player.fcgi?id=pache-000cri&amp;utm_campaign=Linker&amp;utm_source=direct&amp;utm_medium=linker-\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Cristian Pache <\/a><\/strong>or <strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.baseball-reference.com\/register\/player.fcgi?id=waters002dre&amp;utm_campaign=Linker&amp;utm_source=direct&amp;utm_medium=linker-\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Drew Waters. <\/a><\/strong>Or, Atlanta could load up with another pitcher to ease the burden on their arms.<\/p>\n<p>Markakis is not the first player to opt-out, but he also won&#8217;t be the last. Several players, including <strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.baseball-reference.com\/players\/d\/desmoia01.shtml?utm_campaign=Linker&amp;utm_source=direct&amp;utm_medium=linker-\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Ian Desmond<\/a><\/strong>, <strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.baseball-reference.com\/players\/p\/priceda01.shtml?utm_campaign=Linker&amp;utm_source=direct&amp;utm_medium=linker-\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">David Price<\/a><\/strong>, and <strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.baseball-reference.com\/players\/h\/hernafe02.shtml?utm_campaign=Linker&amp;utm_source=direct&amp;utm_medium=linker-\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Felix Hernandez<\/a><\/strong>, will also sit this season out. More players could opt out in the coming days.<\/p>\n<p>Main Photo:<br \/>\n<a id=\"Qg06Q9UtS9N6qpBH0YoXHQ\" class=\"gie-single\" style=\"color: #a7a7a7; text-decoration: none; font-weight: normal !important; border: none; display: inline-block;\" href=\"http:\/\/www.gettyimages.com\/detail\/1163367527\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Embed from Getty Images<\/a><script>window.gie=window.gie||function(c){(gie.q=gie.q||[]).push(c)};gie(function(){gie.widgets.load({id:'Qg06Q9UtS9N6qpBH0YoXHQ',sig:'NRLe_3MwjgD1KMhUBCl31GkYz5_13QZ3_mtnMp_f_Uk=',w:'594px',h:'396px',items:'1163367527',caption: true ,tld:'com',is360: false })});<\/script><script src='\/\/embed-cdn.gettyimages.com\/widgets.js' charset='utf-8' async><\/script><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Nick Markakis Opts Out The Atlanta Braves will play the compressed 2020 season without veteran outfielder Nick Markakis. The 36-year-old will sit out the year over issues related to health and safety during the ongoing pandemic. Braves beat writer Mark Bowman announced the decision early Monday morning. Brian Snitker just announced Nick Markakis has elected [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3127,"featured_media":33957,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"","_lmt_disable":"","sfio_featured_image":false,"sfio_embed_code":"","_ef_editorial_meta_date_first-draft-date":"","_ef_editorial_meta_paragraph_assignment":"","_ef_editorial_meta_checkbox_needs-photo":"","_ef_editorial_meta_number_word-count":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[21,1071,35],"tags":[48,298],"class_list":["post-33938","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-braves","category-mlb","category-news","tag-atlanta-braves","tag-nick-markakis"],"modified_by":"Aaron Cornett","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/33938","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3127"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=33938"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/33938\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/33957"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=33938"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=33938"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=33938"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}