As per the plan, Markakis exited after recording three plate appearances through the first four innings against the Astros. He will serve as Atlanta's right fielder for the first four or five innings of Tuesday's game against the Phillies, and then steadily increase his playing time over the final two weeks of spring games.
Though he has always maintained that his goal has been to be in Atlanta's Opening Day lineup, Markakis has shown patience and poise as he's spent the past month regaining the conditioning and strength that he lost while his activities were limited for the first two months following the Dec. 17 surgical procedure to repair a herniated disc.
Markakis, who signed a four-year $44 million deal in December, began taking regular coach-pitch batting practice on Friday, and did not don a uniform until participating in drills before Saturday's game against the Nationals. There was reason to think he might at least take one round of live batting practice before getting into a game.
Instead, the 31-year-old outfielder thrust himself into action on Monday and provided an indication that he will indeed be ready to take the field for the April 6 season opener.
During Monday's first plate appearance, Markakis tracked the first four pitches he saw and then popped out to shallow left field. Two innings later, he looked at three more pitches before lining a Scott Feldman fastball to the right-center-field wall.
Markakis also reintroduced himself to the baserunning aspect as he scored from third base on Zoilo Almonte's single in the third. After hitting a single to center in the fourth inning, he took the station-to-station route to the plate asFreddie Freeman, Almonte and Chris Johnson followed with three consecutive singles.
Battles for the final spot in rotation coming down to the wire.
As the Braves spend the next week determining how to fill the final two spots of their rotation, they are hoping that Mike Minor eventually proves healthy enough to become a permanent part of this quartet.
But accounting for the lingering left shoulder discomfort that Minor felt all of last season and again after just two weeks of this year's Spring Training, the Braves know that it would not be wise to make any assumptions regarding his availability.
Thus as Wandy Rodriguez, Eric Stults and Mike Foltynewicz spend the next week battling for the two available rotation spots, the Braves have to account for the possibility that Minor might not be activated from the disabled list as early as he was last year, when he made his first start on May 2.
This seems to provide an even greater advantage to Rodriguez, who has certainly proven his potential value as he has not allowed a run in his past 12 Grapefruit League innings. Braves manager Fredi Gonzalez indicated that the veteran lefty has already essentially gained a rotation spot. But other members of the organization have said a definite decision has not been made.
Because Rodriguez has totaled 18 starts the past two seasons and reportedly failed a physical the Phillies performed in December, there has been some thought that the Braves should trade him before being forced to pay him a $2 million salary once he is placed on their active roster.
But with the fact that Minor provides equal uncertainty from a health perspective, the Braves might opt to gamble that Rodriguez can indeed stay healthy throughout the season. They will have to make this decision soon as the 36-year-old southpaw can opt out of his Minor League contract if he is not guaranteed a spot on the Opening Day roster by April 1.
Stults, who has an April 3 opt-out date, has provided an indication that he can be the steady back-of-the-rotation starter the Braves envisioned when they signed him to a Minor League deal. But his candidacy could be influenced by the effectiveness Foltynewicz displays in his next two spring starts. Foltynewicz displayed his youth as he struggled with his command and offspeed pitches during his first two starts. But the hard-throwing right-hander, who ranks as Atlanta's top pitching prospect according to MLB.com, provided some encouragement with the strong showing he had against the Yankees last week.
The Braves were hoping to get a glimpse of Foltynewicz's poise by having him start against the Astros, his former organization on Monday. But a wet mound and less-than-encouraging weather forecast led to the decision to push his start back until Tuesday.
Atlanta reassigned RHP Sugar Ray Marimon, LHP Donnie Veal and C Braeden Schlehuber to their minor league camp.
--- Source: MLB.com