Braves outfielder Nick Markakis reaches 2,000-hit milestone

ATLANTA — With history on the line and his family waving signs in the SunTrust Park stands, the left-handed Nick Markakis stared down an undesirable matchup: All-Star lefty Alex Wood. After falling behind in the count, the Dodgers standout’s second pitch was a low-90s fastball catching far too much of the plate and Markakis reacted in familiar fashion, sending the pitch to the opposite field as the ballpark’s lights quickly dimmed and fireworks went off.

The veteran right fielder became the 285th player to ever log 2,000 career major-league hits on Thursday night with that trademark inside-out swing for the 1,404th single of his career. He followed up the effort with a sixth-inning double for hit No. 2,001.

“I was just happy to get it out of the way," Markakis said. "Sometimes those things can linger around and it was nice to get it here in front of my family and the home field. … Later on you’ll look back at (the milestone). I’m just trying to go out there and do my job, go out there and be as consistent as I can day in and day out. Not try and be anybody I’m not — just take what they give and just roll with it.”

Markakis ranks 10th among active players in hits directly behind Tigers veteran Victor Martinez, boasting a career .288 batting average and .358 on-base percentage entering Thursday's action. Throughout his 12 big-league seasons, he’s been the model of low-key consistency: Of the top 31 active hits leaders, the Braves right fielder is the only one to never make a single All-Star appearance.

In the modern era, only Juan Pierre, Orlando Cabrera, Todd Zeile and Tony Phillips have finished their career with 2,000 hits and zero All-Star appearances. Here's the active hits leaderboard:

Markakis could soon find familiar company in the 2,000-Hit Club. Atlanta’s veteran infielder Brandon Phillips entered the Braves-Dodgers finale 32 hits shy of the milestone while Matt Kemp could reach the mark in the next few seasons. This is familiar territory for the organization by now: Former Braves teammate and catcher A.J. Pierzynski notched his 2,000th hit when Atlanta visited Fenway Park in April 2016.

The product of Woodstock, Ga., and Young Harris College logged the vast majority of his career knocks with the Baltimore Orioles, who selected him with the seventh overall pick in the 2003 draft. Prior to signing a four-year contract with the Braves at the starting line of John Hart and John Coppolella’s rebuilding effort, the 6-foot-1 outfielder compiled 1,547 hits — combined with 141 home runs and two Gold Glove awards — in Baltimore.

"It's a battle every day. You have your ups and downs through the course of a season, through the course of a career," Markakis said. "You just gotta stay within yourself, do the best you can and everything else takes care of itself."

Since joining his hometown team before the 2015 campaign, Markakis is slashing .282/.361/.386 with 123 extra-base hits.

He’s under contract through the 2018 season.

At 33 years old, Markakis is the youngest of the top 18 active hits leaders — meaning he has plenty of time to continue climbing the ladder. If he continues at his current pace (175 hits per 162 games in a Braves uniform) for, by conservative estimate, the next 200 games until re-entering free agency next winter, he’d surpass Hall of Famer Joe DiMaggio’s final tally before his 35th birthday with a shot at jumping into the top-100 on the career hits list with 2,500 base knocks.

"It’s something to be very proud of," Braves manager Brian Snitker said. "It speaks to who he is, the player he is and the professional he is.”

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