Nick Markakis

From BR Bullpen

Nicholas William Markakis

Bats Left, Throws Left
Height 6' 2", Weight 195 lb.
School Young Harris College
High School Woodstock High School
Debut April 3, 2006
Born November 17, 1983 in Woodstock, GA USA

[edit] Biographical Information

Nick Markakis is a rookie with the Baltimore Orioles who has played as a regular in his first season in the leagues, hitting well.

He was drafted by the Cincinnati Reds in the 35th round of the 2001 amateur draft but did not sign. In 2002, Nick hit .455, slugged .885, cracked 17 homers and drove in 74 as a freshman in college, playing DH. Pitching as well, he went 11-3 with 98 Ks in 91 innings but a 4.53 ERA. In the 2002 amateur draft, the Reds took him in the 23rd round and he did not sign again. Baseball America named him their Junior College Player of the Year.

Markakis became the first two-time winner of that award in 2003 when he had "one of the greatest two-way seasons in junior college history" according to Baseball America. He went 12-0 with a 1.68 ERA and hit .439 with 21 homers. At the plate, he led the nation in RBI (92) and on the mound, he led in strikeouts (160). The Baltimore Orioles took him with the 7th overall pick in the 2003 amateur draft and he signed for a $1,850,000 bonus. In the 2003 European Championship, Markakis batted .323/~.364/.355 but led the Greek national team with 7 RBI in 8 games to help them finish in second place. He also pitched one scoreless inning.

Nick began his professional career with the Aberdeen Ironbirds. Used solely in the outfield, he hit .283/.372/.395 and he was picked by Baseball America as the top prospect in the New York-Penn League. Markakis represented Greece in the 2004 Olympics and led the club with a .346 average, slugging .577. He hit .299/.371/.470 for the Delmarva Shorebirds at age 20 that year.

In 2005, Markakis hit .300/.379/.480 with the Frederick Keys, earning an August call-up to the Bowie BaySox, where he batted .339/.420/.573. He hit 41 doubles that year. Continuing to earn high praise from Baseball America, he was picked as the Orioles Minor League Player of the Year, the #6 prospect in the Eastern League, the top batting prospect, power prospect and strike-zone judgement hitter in the Carolina League and the #2 prospect in that loop, between Jarrod Saltalamacchia and Anibal Sanchez. He made the Carolina League All-Star team and was 7th in the league in average.

Nick became the regular 2006 Orioles right fielder and batted .291/.351/.448 for the season. However, he started very slowly, hitting only .182 in April, and while he improved each month, he was still hitting only .257 at the end of June. Hitting over .400 in July and over .350 in August helped a lot to raise his average.

Sources: 2002-2006 Baseball Almanacs, 2003 European Championship stats