Markakis wins RotM

[Fishercat]

Nick Markakis has been named American League Rookie of the Month for August.
First he was shifted to the two-hole and now he's batting third for the Orioles as they recognize how special this kid is. In 21 games last month, he hit .354 with 10 homers and 26 RBI, slugging .740 with a .400 OBP. Markakis recorded 71 total bases for the month.

Well, Nick is finally showing what he can do, a little too late for my fantasy team, except in the playoffs

[ThomasTomasz]

He definately deserved this award. I think that his stats and his play speak for themselves.

Kudos to Perlozzo in finally playing Markakis every day a few months ago, and bringing him up the line-up slowly. The Orioles have always had a tendency to rush our players along, and Perlozzo brought him along slowly, first as a platoon player, learning all of the OF positions, then every day batting 9th, then 2nd, and now 3rd.

His play really took off when Perlozzo made him a full-time player, and at his natural OF position, right field. Thats when we saw his offense numbers spiral upward, and he did not look lost playing defense. He is very good defensively, with a cannon arm in right.

Thats another thing. His natural outfield position might be right field, but Markakis' natural position is pitcher. When the Orioles drafted him, many scouts projected him to be a better pitcher than an outfielder. Because the Orioles needed hitters, they made Markakis a full-time outfielder. It is scary how talented he is.

[missionhockey21]

Thats another thing. His natural outfield position might be right field, but Markakis' natural position is pitcher. When the Orioles drafted him, many scouts projected him to be a better pitcher than an outfielder. Because the Orioles needed hitters, they made Markakis a full-time outfielder. It is scary how talented he is.

Yup. A lot of Reds fans are upset with how much he has blossomed, but of course when we were looking at him it was while he was a pitcher. That was a gamble on the Orioles part (to some degree), but he has such a ceiling and is just a well rounded player (outside of his minimal power against lefties). It'll be fun to see if he can keep this up next season as I surely didn't expect this kind of impact that quickly.

BTW, welcome back Thomas.

[catman]

Its good to see this kid get a chance to play in the bigs. He had some great numbers in the minors and had nothing more to prove there. The Orioles have some good, young talent and Nick may be the best of them.