BALTIMORE — Former Orioles outfielder Nick Markakis is retiring, ending a 15-year career that spanned the Orioles’ competitive renaissance and ended with the Atlanta Braves.
The news was first reported by The Athletic.
Markakis debuted at age 22 with the Orioles in 2006 and spent nine seasons as a durable right fielder for the club, batting .290 with a .793 OPS and winning two Gold Glove awards.
In his final season, 2014, Markakis was an everyday player for a team that won 96 games to claim the American League East division title and ultimately reached the American League Championship Series.
The Orioles, though, had questions about how healthy he would be the rest of his career and didn’t sign him once he hit free agency after that playoff run.
Markakis instead joined the Atlanta Braves and proved those concerns to be unfounded. He played no fewer than 156 games in a season in his initial four-year contract there, and made his first All-Star appearance in 2018 at Nationals Park. He added his third Gold Glove and a Silver Slugger award that year.
The 15-year big league veteran finished with 2,388 hits and 189 home runs in his career.
