Braves' Nick Markakis says every Astro 'needs a beating' for sign stealing

Atlanta Braves outfielder Nick Markakis has joined the chorus blasting the Houston Astros over their sign-stealing scandal, telling reporters "every single guy over there needs a beating."

"It's anger," Markakis told reporters of his reaction to the Astros' scandal and the ensuing response. "I feel like every single guy over there needs a beating. It's wrong. They're messing with people's careers."

Markakis did not elaborate on what would constitute a "beating." At least two pitchers have indicated that they would consider throwing at Astros batters, and William Hill sportsbook set an over/under of 83.5 for Houston hit-by-pitches in 2020, a number that would rank as one of the 10 highest in the previous five seasons.

Asked about Markakis' comments, Astros manager Dusty Baker replied: "That's cool. I ain't commenting on everybody's comments. Go ahead. You want to beat on us, go ahead."

Markakis also said the Astros' actions were "damaging to baseball."

"There's right ways to do it and wrong ways to do it," Markakis said. "I 100% disagree with way they did it. There's a lot of people that were hurt by it, and it was wrong."

Along with his viewpoint that the Astros players got off "scot-free," he also pointed a finger at MLB commissioner Rob Manfred.

"The way he handled the situation, he should be embarrassed of himself," Markakis said.

Markakis, a 14-year major league veteran, has not faced the Astros since the 2017 season, the year they were found to have used a trash canto signal pitches to batters en route to winning the World Series. The Braves and Astros close the 2020 regular season with a September series in Atlanta.