Zach Wilt: Have the O's replaced Markakis' production?

It took 71 games, but I can now comfortably say that the Orioles have effectively replaced Nick Markakis' production from last season. Markakis was a lot of things to the Orioles in 2014. He was a Gold Glove corner outfielder, a table-setter atop the lineup and, of course, a clubhouse leader who provided a veteran presence on a team that advanced to the American League Championship Series. That's a lot to replace; no one player could fill those shoes.

Defensive metrics were never a fan of Markakis in Baltimore, but his two Gold Gloves speak for themselves. Orioles fans, like me, would argue that he was steady in right field and played a tough corner at Camden Yards better than anyone in the game. A week ago, Markakis set the all-time record for an errorless streak with 393 clean games. He's continued that over the last six days.

Markakis played 147 games for the Birds in right field last season. In 2015, five Orioles have played five games or more in his old position: Delmon Young, Chris Parmelee, Travis Snider, Alejandro De Aza and Nolan Reimold. Despite combining for four errors in right, the O's are tied for the lead in assists (11) and rank fourth in the major leagues in defensive runs saved (six). Markakis was valued at one defensive run saved and had 11 assists in 2014.

In last week's guest blog, I raved about Manny Machado's improved approach at the plate in the leadoff spot. After examining the plate discipline data, he's taking more pitches, drawing more walks and providing some unexpected pop atop the order. There's been a lot of talk about Machado's power potential and whether leadoff is right for him given that he's on pace for 32 homers this season. As consistent as he's been, I wouldn't want to move him.

In addition to what Machado is providing in the role, we've also quietly seen Travis Snider replicate Markakis' numbers at the plate. A season ago, Markakis hit .276/.342/.386 for the Birds. In 53 games with the Orioles, Snider has hit .276/.352/.393. In June, Snider has really heated up, slashing .304/.371/.464 while playing mostly in left field. He's on pace for the best season of his career. With another difficult roster decision looming, it's hard to think that Snider will be the odd man out at this point. He's also under team control through next season.

How about that leadership? Markakis has never been the most talkative guy when the cameras are on, but his teammates say that behind the scenes he sets the tone for the club. I think that's why we saw the comments from Adam Jones and Chris Davis when he signed with Atlanta. This has been Jones' team for the past few seasons, but I believe we're also seeing more leadership from Machado, Matt Wieters and especially J.J. Hardy after he signed his three-year extension during the 2014 postseason.

In 2015, Markakis has not only found himself on a different team, in a different league, but also has a completely different role on the Atlanta Braves. The former O's right fielder is batting cleanup for Fredi Gonzalez and despite having limited power for the role, he's putting together a solid season offensively with his .300/.391/.360 slash line. I couldn't be happier to see it. He was always one of my favorite players over nine seasons in Baltimore and I wish him nothing but the best. For now though, I'm glad to see the Orioles' offseason plan come together as they expected it to defensively, in the leadoff spot and the clubhouse.

Zach Wilt blogs about the Orioles at Baltimore Sports Report. Follow him on Twitter: @zach_wilt. His views appear here as part of MASNsports.com's season-long initiative of welcoming guest bloggers to our pages. All opinions expressed are those of the guest bloggers, who are not employed by MASNsports.com but are just as passionate about their baseball as our roster of writers.