Atlanta Braves 2018 season in review: The good, the bad, and what’s next

The Atlanta Braves got back to winning baseball in 2018. Here is a look at the good and the bad of 2018, and what we might expect from 2019.

Atlanta Braves fans had to enter the calendar year of 2018 with a bit of a bad taste in their mouths. It had been since 2013 when the city of Atlanta last hosted a winning baseball team. The 2017 version of the club produced a 72-90 record which resulted in another postseason watching other teams be where they want to be.

While the on-field product was making it hard to be a fan, what happened down the stretch of 2017 likely made every Brave’s fan embarrassed. The Braves were caught and penalized by the MLB for international signing violations. That caused the team to have to forfeit 13 international prospects, three years of restrictions on the international market, and the loss of their third-round draft pick in this past year’s draft.

The violations also resulted in the resignation of president of baseball operations John Hart and the hire of Alex Anthopoulos as the Braves general manager. As the Braves seemed to be headed in the wrong direction and losing a ton of talent it allowed other teams around the league to capitalize on the Braves punishments.

Thankfully, those sanctions didn’t define what would happen with the major league club in 2018. After what was a successful 2018 as we will get to in a moment, Anthopoulos now has his first full offseason running the Braves to try and capitalize on the clubs first winning season in a while.

While a good group of the Braves roster will remain intact for 2018, there are several 2018 Braves who have hit the free agent market:

• C Rene Rivera
• C Kurt Suzuki (signed with Washington)
• 1B Lucas Duda
• INF Ryan Flaherty
• OF Nick Markakis (re-signed with Atlanta)
• SP Brandon McCarthy (retired)
• SP Anibal Sanchez (signed with Washington)
• RP Brad Brach (signed with Cubs)
• RP Peter Moylan

The Braves are still looking for places to upgrade their roster as they seem to be stuck in what has been an arms race in the NL East. They have made some significant moves with the re-signing of Markakis and a few other moves. As we will see through the rest of this post, there are a few other places the Braves may need to solidify to give them that final push from playoff participant to unquestioned World Series contender.

The Good

This is a pretty easy topic to discuss when it comes to the 2018 Braves. It starts with the results of a winning season where they went 90-72 and won the National League East which looked like the Washington Nationals to lose at the beginning of the season.

The Braves also saw good early career showings from two young position players which helped fuel their winning ways. Outfielder Ronald Acuna was baseball’s No. 2 prospect heading into 2018 according to MLB.com and made his debut with the Braves on April 25th. On the season Acuna turned in a slash line of .293/.366/.552, a .917 OPS, along with 26 home runs and 26 doubles.

Ozzie Albies capitalized on some experience from the 2017 campaign after the then No. 2 Braves prospect and No. 19 overall according to MLB.com made his MLB debut. At 21-years-old, Albies earned an All-Star selection and hit .261/.305/.452, with a .757 OPS, 24 home runs, 40 doubles, and 14 stolen bases. Albies and Acuna created quite a one-two punch as a young duo in 2018.

We must not forget the veterans as we look at the Braves. Freddie Freeman continued to look like a franchise cornerstone. Freeman hit .309/.388/.505, carried a .892 OPS, 23 home runs, and a league-leading 44 doubles. He also was selected for the All-Star team, finished 4th in MVP voting, and won a Gold Glove.

Recently re-signed Nick Markakis was a surprising plus to the lineup as he hit .297/.366/.440, a 806 OPS, 14 home runs, and 43 doubles. Markakis also was an All-Star selection as well as a Gold Glove and Silver Slugger award winner. A little under the radar was a solid season from Kurt Suzuki at catcher who slashed .271/.332/.444 with a .776 OPS.

The Bad

In all honesty, there wasn’t a lot of bad that happened to the Braves when we look at the big picture. They did finish with that 90-72 record and were participants in the playoffs. What goes down as a negative is that their showing in the playoffs wasn’t as competitive as one would have liked.

The Braves were defeated by the Dodgers in four games 3-1. In the first two games, the Braves lineup of great hitters wasn’t able to put even a single run on the board. Behind 2-0 in the series, the Braves would win the third game but then lose that fourth matchup with the Dodgers.

In many ways, it had felt like the Braves had really put things together in a special way and they may be able to make a run through the playoffs. In the end, that just wasn’t there for the Braves in 2018.

The Bullpen

It is hard to say that the bullpen was truly “Bad,” but it was missing that gear that it seems championship teams have. Arodys Vizcaino put together a solid season as the Braves closer turning in a 2.11 ERA and collecting 16 saves.

Brad Brach was acquired at the trade deadline and also pitched well for the Braves with a 1.52 ERA over 23.2 innings. Really looking up and down the bullpen it is hard to find a terrible ERA or a pitcher without some ability to produce swings and misses.

The missing piece appears to be that sort of shutdown relief pitcher that can really just come in a put a lineup away. That is a big reason why former Brave Craig Kimbrel will continue to be linked to the team until he signs somewhere this offseason.

Honorable Mention: We could also mention Dansby Swanson here in this bad section. He did not produce with his bat in a way the Braves expect from him as he slashed .238/.304/.395.