Showalter on Markakis

By Roch Kubatko

Orioles

April 18, 2012, 3:39pm

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CHICAGO - Rain is in the forecast tonight and tomorrow. A few drops fell during batting practice. Apparently, it's really supposed to be bad tomorrow, when I'm scheduled to fly out of here at 8:05 p.m. I can't afford a lengthy delay. The Kubatko luck strikes again. Orioles manager Buck Showalter was asked about his decision to use Nick Markakis as the designated hitter tonight. "We'll move it around," he said. "One of the assets we have in not having it locked down. I've got a couple people in mind tomorrow who could DH. That's one of the luxuries of having someone like Endy (Chavez) and Ryan (Flaherty) and Wilson (Betemit), that we can play them at multiple positions and keep everybody healthy. "Today it's Nick's turn. Tomorrow, it will be somebody else's. Nick won't be DHing tomorrow." Adam Jones might fill that role tomorrow. Markakis has three hits in his last 35 at-bats. "Nick's a tinkerer," Showalter said. "He started off well. Everybody here is going to have periods where they're not as good as they're capable of being. "If Nick's our biggest issue here, we're in real good shape this year. He'll be fine. We all know the track record and he'll figure it out."