Atlanta Braves 2018 Season in Review: March/April
With the completion of the 2018 Atlanta Braves season, we will look back at the ups and downs of year.
The 2018 season for the Atlanta Braves was more than any fan could have expected in spring training. Even as the season did not end with a World Series title, returning to the playoffs was a huge step for the organization, and we look forward to the next few seasons with the team!
We will be reviewing each month of the season, looking at the highlights and the lowlights of each month, remembering some of the biggest games of the month as well. Check the links for each month as we progress through the year in our review:
March/April
May
June
July
August
September/October
Monthly stats
Team record: 16-11
Team slash line: .268/.342/.440/.781
Team home runs: 30
Team ERA: 3.64
Team WHIP: 1.38
Team K/9: 9.3
Biggest game of the month
The 2018 season for the Atlanta Braves started off with a walk-off win over the Philadelphia Phillies on March 29th, and that set the tone for the season. On April 14th, the Braves played what has been widely regarded as their worst game of the season.
Facing typically-solid Chicago Cubs starter Jose Quintana, the Atlanta Braves jumped all over Quintana early, and after the 4th inning, Sean Newcomb had been handed a 10-2 lead. Due to freezing drizzle falling throughout the game, keeping Newcomb in there didn’t make a ton of sense, so when he ran into trouble in the 6th inning, he left, having tossed 5 1/3 innings, walking 4, and striking out 7.
The bullpen allowed one of Newcomb’s runners to score in the 6th, but the game was still a comfortable 10-3. In the bottom of the 7th inning, Dan Winkler experienced the crazy weather and saw a pair of runs cross the plate. Winkler ended up allowing in a run for Newcomb and 2 of his own in 1 2/3 innings pitched on the day, yet he only allowed a single walk and a single hit. Still, even after the 2 runs, the Braves were still up 10-5 entering the bottom of the 8th.
We won’t go into all of the depth of what happened in that 8th inning, but suffice to say, 9 runs crossed the board for the Chicago Cubs. The final score would be 14-10 Cubs, with the 14 runs allowed a season-high for the Atlanta Braves.
However, this was only half of the biggest game of the month. The Braves and Cubs were iced/snowed out of the next day of play, so the next game for the Braves was against the Phillies on Monday, April 16.
Julio Teheran took the hill against Aaron Nola. Both teams scored in the first inning, but after two innings, Teheran had 5 strikeouts. This was a different game for the normally contact-driven Teheran. He would finish the day with 9 strikeouts over 6 innings.
The Braves would go on to win the game 2-1, scoring both of their runs on outs. Their first inning run was scored on the backside of a double play, and the eventual game-winning run was scored after Ozzie Albies singled and was moved around to third base with one out, and Kurt Suzuki brought him home with a sacrifice fly.
After a game against the Cubs where the Braves showed they could put together 4 doubles and a home run with their offense, the next game, they exhibited the ability to win a game with smart contact and base running, getting just 4 singles and a walk and manufacturing the 2 runs needed to win out of them.
Those two games, even with the heartbreak involved in the drizzle game against the Cubs, showed Atlanta Braves fans that they were dealing with a different Braves team in 2018, one that would fine multiple ways to win.
Let’s look at the top hitter and top pitcher from the month…