Entering the 2018 season, the Braves were still reeling from their previous general manager John Coppolella being banned from the sport for life for multiple international signing violations. The club lost 13 international prospects and hired a new general manager, Alex Anthopoulos. This piece will take a look at the story of the 2018 Atlanta Braves.

Before the season

As I mentioned early, the Braves were reeling from the punishments handed down by Major League Baseball for violating international signing rules. Losing a GM after only two seasons would be a tough thing to overcome for any organization, especially considering the Braves couldn’t sign international free agents like they previously could until 2022. The Braves signed former Blue Jays GM and Dodgers executive Alex Anthopoulos to help bring stability to the organization.

The architect of the island

Anthopoulos is now widely considered one of the top general managers in baseball now, but nobody really knew what to expect from him as he took control of the franchise on November 13th, 2017. Anthopoulos quickly traded away Matt Kemp for Charlie Culberson, Brandon McCarthy, Scott Kazmir, and Adrian Gonzalez (who they immediately released). The move at the time was simply a salary dump, but the acquisitions of McCarthy and especially Culberson became extremely crucial to their future success. The last important move of the offseason was signing former star starting pitcher Anibal Sanchez to a minor league contract, hoping to squeeze out some value after a 6.41 ERA in 2017. As the season drew near, the consensus was that the Braves would be a team well below .500, although improved due to the likely call up of some top prospects that would hopefully give them a glimpse of the future. Every major media outlet unanimously picked the Washington Nationals to win the NL East.

Opening Day

I think opening day deserves its own paragraph as I genuinely believe this game gave them momentum through the entire season. The Braves threw Julio Teheran against Aaron Nola on opening day against the Phillies. The Phillies got the scoring started early with a Rhys Hoskins RBI double, Cesar Hernandez solo home run, Maikel Franco bases loaded walk, and Andrew Knapp 2 RBI single. It was 5-0 Phillies in the 6th inning. I distinctly remember telling my dad that “It looks like it’s gonna be yet another long season for the Braves.” For some reason Gabe Kapler took the ball out of Aaron Nola’s hands in the 6th inning at 68 pitches. Hoby Milner came into the game and immediately served up a 2 run homer to Freddie Freeman. Leading off the 8th inning Ozzie Albies launched a home run off of Adam Morgan, followed by a throwing error by Knapp to bring in another run, and then finally an RBI single by Preston Tucker to tie the game at 5. This was just the first instance of many late inning heroics by the Braves in 2018. With a 1-1 count in the bottom of the 9th inning, Nick Markakis belted a 3 run homer off of a hanging splitter from Hector Neris to walk off the Phillies on opening day. The Braves just seemed to have a different energy about them this time around.

Career Years

Before I even mention all the other things that made the 2018 Braves so special, it must be noted that almost everyone had a career year in Atlanta in 2018. The Braves had so many players that played out of their minds in 2018 it’s kind of unbelievable in hindsight. Anibal Sanchez, who was signed to a minor league deal after his 6.41 ERA 2017 season, posted a 2.90 ERA, 3.59 FIP, and 2.5 WAR. Sean Newcomb posted a 3.91 ERA, 4.13 FIP, and 1.9 WAR, not insane stats sure but he showed some absolute brilliance in 2018, coming within one strike of no-hitting the Los Angeles Dodgers.

Mike Foltynewicz stepped up and became the ace he absolutely needed to be, posting a crazy 2.85 ERA, 3.37 FIP, and 3.8 WAR, finishing 8th in NL Cy Young voting that year and representing the Braves in the all-star game. The offense wasn’t even really anything insane in terms of career years, although Nick Markakis had a 114 wRC+ and played in his first all-star game, as well as gathering a silver slugger and a gold glove at the end of the year. Charlie Culberson had a 107 wRC+ and fought his way into a consistent role after he became the Braves' go-to late game pinch hitter. “Charlie Clutch” belted multiple walk off home runs and had many late game at bat heroics throughout the season. The 2018 Braves offense was simply consistently good, but also had a flair for the dramatic.

Late Game Heroics

The true calling card of the 2018 Braves was their late game performances. The Braves had TWENTY last at bat wins in the 2018 season. If you turn half of those games into losses the Braves have a measly 80 wins, putting them below .500. The Braves just consistently got it done after the 7th inning, and if they didn’t win they at least made it close in the late innings. The opening day walk off from Nick Markakis was just the beginning of the walk offs of that season. Charlie Clutch belted two walk-off home runs in the same week, once against the New York Mets and once against the Washington Nationals. Ender Inciarte had a walk off bunt against the Mets and Johan Camargo had a walk off home run against them as well. If it wasn’t already obvious, the Braves had a lot of walk off wins that season.

The Youth

Entering the 2018 season, the Braves were expected to simply treat this season as a showcase for the young talent in their minor league system. The Braves started rolling and Alex Anthopoulos made the big call down to the farm. The Braves called up their number 1 prospect and number 2 prospect in all of baseball, 20 year old outfielder Ronald Acuña Jr. He made his debut in Cincinnati on April 25th, 2018 and collected his first career hit. The following day he launched a tape measure home run for his first career home run. The Braves just had a completely different energy with Acuña on the field. Acuña sprained his ACL in a game against the Red Sox on May 27th, but when he returned on June 29th he went on an absolute rampage. He was a league average hitter when he went down with his injury, but once he came back he posted a 155 wRC+, going on one of the craziest home run rampages I’ve ever seen. He hit 6 homers in 5 games before getting nailed by the first pitch of a Jose Ureña start, causing the benches to clear and for drama to continue even today. The Soto vs Acuña Rookie of the Year battle was one of the most fun things I have ever watched. Acuña wasn’t the only rookie who got a cup of coffee in the majors in 2018 though as Kyle Wright and Bryse Wilson both showed potential in their MLB debuts. Ozzie Albies also played in his first full season.

The Ending

The Braves won the NL East in 2018 with a 90-72 record. The division was never really close either. The preseason consensus NL East champion Washington Nationals finished the season 82-80 behind a painfully uninspired Bryce Harper. The Braves rode their momentum all the way to the division crown. The Braves were clearly a worse team than their opponent in the NLDS, the Los Angeles Dodgers, but it was really just a treat to see them in the playoffs at all, as ahead of schedule as they were. Alex Anthopoulos made some nice moves at the trade deadline to bolster the team for the playoff push in Jonny Venters, Kevin Gausman, Lucas Duda, and Darren O’Day.

From the first batter of the NLDS against the Dodgers it was painfully obvious they were outmatched, not scoring a run until the second inning of game 3. This doesn’t mean they were without fun moments, such as Acuña’s grand slam off of Walker Buehler in game 3 and Freddie Freeman’s go-ahead blast in the same game. The Braves dropped the series 3-1, but just being there a year or two ahead of schedule was a massive win by itself.

Conclusion

Ronald Acuña Jr ended off the season by winning NL Rookie of the Year, pretty good for a 20 year old. The Braves were so randomly good in 2018 and I feel like it doesn’t really get talked about all that much. From the countless last at bat wins, exciting young stars, and a surprise playoff appearance, watching the 2018 Braves was one of the most fun things I’ve ever done.