Atlanta Braves top 10 minor league moments of 2018
The Atlanta Braves minor league system had some huge moments in 2018. We’re counting down the very best!
While many Atlanta Braves prospects found their way to the major leagues, and there are many lists of the top moments from the major leagues this year, we at Tomahawk Take want to highlight the best moments of the minor leagues in 2018.
Honorable mentions
It’s the sad truth that with a list like this, some great games ended up not making the list. Let’s take a look at some of those before we get into the list.
The Atlanta Braves are known for their tremendous pitching, and the simple fact is that multiple 80+ game score pitching performances don’t end up even making this list. The first game of the year to really draw attention was down at the low-A level from Jasseel De La Cruz, who tossed 5 hitless innings on April 6th.
Kyle Wright had his reputation through most of the year, but it took until mid-August for him to have a signature game, when he went 7 innings for Gwinnett, striking out 8 against Louisville. Kyle Muller worked up multiple levels in 2018, going from low-A to AA in one season, but many thought he would finish in high-A until he turned the corner with his start on July 9th against Daytona, when he went 7 innings, allowing 1 unearned run and striking out 12. He was up to AA less than a month later.
While he was one of the biggest stories in 2018, CJ Alexander didn’t really have a signature moment worthy of a top 10 spot, as his biggest game was a 3-for-5 game on June 28th in the GCL, hitting a home run, one of eight 3-hit games for Alexander this season.
Two guys who moved up from Florida to Mississippi and really hit better after the promotion both had their best days with Mississippi, but neither was quite good enough for this list. Alejandro Salazar reached base six times on July 15th, going 5-5 with a walk. Ray-Patrick Didder established himself as a potential future big league bench player, and his bat was much better in Mississippi, shown on July 29th in his best game when he went 3-4 with a triple, home run, and a stolen base.
Now let’s get to the countdown…