The year started with some history making news in the National Football League as the Philadelphia Eagles won their first Super Bowl in franchise history, defeating the heavily favored (yet again) New England Patriots, 41-33, in Super Bowl LII, ending a 57-year championship drought.
The Detroit Tigers modified the Olde English D on their home jersey to match the D on the cap. This was the first major change to the Tigers' home jersey since 1934.
A "feel good" story of the year surrounded the return of Atlanta Braves pitcher Jonny Venters. The Tampa Bay Rays stuck with the determined lefty who had Tommy John surgery three times and successfully returned to the mound on April 25, 2018 - the first pitcher to make it back to the majors after three such operations.
The 89th Major League Baseball All-Star Game will be held on July 17, 2018, at Nationals Park, the home of the Washington Nationals.
The National League & American League had a combined 7,335 strikeouts and 6,992 hits during the month of April. Never in Major League history had their been a month with more strikeouts than hits, until 2018!
All thirty Major League Baseball teams were scheduled to play an Opening Day game on March 29, 2018, the earliest start of a regular season in baseball history.
Major League Baseball implemented new pace of play rules in 2018, which include limiting the amount of mound visits for each team to six visits per nine innings. Teams will receive an additional visit for every extra inning played.
Under the new collective bargaining agreement reached in December 2016, the 2018 regular season was extended to 187 days in order to add four additional off-days for all teams.
"Twenty years ago, when you talked to National League owners about the DH, you'd think you were talking some sort of heretical comment," Manfred told reporters Thursday at the owners meetings in Coral Gables, Fla. "But we have a newer group. There's been turnover. And I think our owners in general have demonstrated a willingness to change the game in ways that we think would be good for the fans, always respecting the history and traditions of the sport." - New York Daily News Staff Peter Botte (01/21/2016, MLB commissioner Rob Manfred says National League could implement DH by 2017, Source)
2018 American League Player ReviewHitting Statistics League Leaderboard |
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Statistic | Name | Team | # | Top 25 |
Base on Balls | Mike Trout | Los Angeles Angels | 122 | Top 25 |
Batting Average | Mookie Betts | Boston Red Sox | .346 | Top 25 |
Doubles | Alex Bregman | Houston Astros | 50 | Top 25 |
Hits | Whit Merrifield | Kansas City Royals | 192 | Top 25 |
Home Runs | Khris Davis | Oakland Athletics | 48 | Top 25 |
On Base Percentage | Mike Trout | Los Angeles Angels | .460 | Top 25 |
RBI | J.D. Martinez | Boston Red Sox | 130 | Top 25 |
Runs | Mookie Betts | Boston Red Sox | 129 | Top 25 |
Slugging Average | Mookie Betts | Boston Red Sox | .640 | Top 25 |
Stolen Bases | Whit Merrifield | Kansas City Royals | 45 | Top 25 |
Total Bases | J.D. Martinez | Boston Red Sox | 358 | Top 25 |
Triples | Yolmer Sanchez | Chicago White Sox | 10 | Top 25 |
Mallex Smith | Tampa Bay Rays | 10 | ||
Statistic | Name | Team | # | Top 25 |
2018 A.L. History | 2018 N.L. History | Year-by-Year History |
2018 American League Pitcher ReviewPitching Statistics League Leaderboard |
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Statistic | Name | Team | # | Top 25 |
Complete Games | Jose Berrios | Minnesota Twins | 2 | Top 25 |
Carlos Carrasco | Cleveland Indians | 2 | ||
Corey Kluber | Cleveland Indians | 2 | ||
James Paxton | Seattle Mariners | 2 | ||
ERA | Blake Snell | Tampa Bay Rays | 1.89 | Top 25 |
Games | Ryan Pressly | Minnesota Twins | 77 | Top 25 |
Houston Astros | ||||
Saves | Edwin Diaz | Seattle Mariners | 57 | Top 25 |
Shutouts | Jose Berrios | Minnesota Twins | 1 | Top 25 |
Mike Clevinger | Cleveland Indians | 1 | ||
Gerrit Cole | Houston Astros | 1 | ||
Andrew Heaney | Los Angeles Angels | 1 | ||
Corey Kluber | Cleveland Indians | 1 | ||
Sean Manaea | Oakland Athletics | 1 | ||
Daniel Mengden | Oakland Athletics | 1 | ||
James Paxton | Seattle Mariners | 1 | ||
Luis Severino | New York Yankees | 1 | ||
Masahiro Tanaka | New York Yankees | 1 | ||
Justin Verlander | Houston Astros | 1 | ||
Strikeouts | Justin Verlander | Houston Astros | 290 | Top 25 |
Winning Percentage | Charlie Morton | Houston Astros | .833 | Top 25 |
Wins | Blake Snell | Tampa Bay Rays | 21 | Top 25 |
Statistic | Name | Team | # | Top 25 |
2018 A.L. History | 2018 N.L. History | Year-by-Year History |
2018 American League Team Standings2018 All-Star Game | 2018 Team Standings | 2018 World Series |
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East | Team | Roster | Wins | Losses | Ties | WP | GB | Payroll |
Boston Red Sox | 108 | 54 | 0 | .667 | -- | $206,247,686 | |
New York Yankees | 100 | 62 | 0 | .617 | 8.0 | $161,305,917 | |
Tampa Bay Rays | 90 | 72 | 0 | .556 | 18.0 | $69,605,999 | |
Toronto Blue Jays | 73 | 89 | 0 | .451 | 35.0 | $164,122,200 | |
Baltimore Orioles | 47 | 115 | 0 | .290 | 61.0 | $148,160,873 | |
Central | Team | Roster | Wins | Losses | Ties | WP | GB | Payroll |
Cleveland Indians | 91 | 71 | 0 | .562 | -- | $136,652,167 | |
Minnesota Twins | 78 | 84 | 0 | .481 | 13.0 | $129,560,000 | |
Detroit Tigers | 64 | 98 | 0 | .395 | 27.0 | $111,286,000 | |
Chicago White Sox | 62 | 100 | 0 | .383 | 29.0 | $86,050,333 | |
Kansas City Royals | 58 | 104 | 0 | .358 | 33.0 | $115,483,116 | |
West | Team | Roster | Wins | Losses | Ties | WP | GB | Payroll |
Houston Astros | 103 | 59 | 0 | .636 | -- | $172,038,900 | |
Oakland Athletics | 97 | 65 | 0 | .599 | 6.0 | $62,652,500 | |
Seattle Mariners | 89 | 73 | 0 | .549 | 14.0 | $165,303,943 | |
LosAngelesAngels | 80 | 82 | 0 | .494 | 23.0 | $171,248,332 | |
Texas Rangers | 67 | 95 | 0 | .414 | 36.0 | $128,821,249 | |
A.L. | Team | Roster | Wins | Losses | Ties | WP | GB | Payroll |
2018 American League Final Standings |
George Springer (2018 Astros) hit a lead-off home run on Opening Day, March 29, 2018, and became the first player in Major League history to lead off back-to-back seasons (April 3, 2017) with a home run.
On April 5, 2018, Adrian Beltre became the all-time leader in hits by a player from Latin America. Beltre, from the Dominican Republic, passed Rod Carew of Panama (Canal Zone) with his 3,054th career hit.
Did you know that Roberto Osuna became the youngest pitcher in Major League history to reach 100 career saves in 2018? Osuna, on April 10, 2018, recorded his 100th save, reaching the plateau a year younger than the previous record holder, Francisco Rodriguez.