The 20 biggest stories from the 2018 MLB season

No team in at least the last 30 years has opened the season with MLB's lowest payroll and made the playoffs — until this year, now that the Athletics have qualified. That Oakland was the team to pull it off is wholly unsurprising to anyone who has watched baseball post-2000. This year's team is a bunch of no-name pitchers who are somehow getting it done, plus a thump-heavy offense led by Khris Davis' league-leading 46 homers. Matt Chapman has emerged as a breakout star, and even though they don't have anything approaching an ace, no one is counting out the A's as a team that could make some major noise.

The numbers are pretty staggering for Boston. The Red Sox finished the season with 108 wins, have not lost more than 11 games in any month, have lost only double-digit games in two months (May and June) and have outscored their opponents by some 220 runs. Boston has a losing record against only three teams — the Astros, Athletics and Indians — and it's barely one, at that. The lineup is very good, the starting pitching is very good and anchored by a true ace in Chris Sale, and the bullpen, while it has some question marks, still has Craig Kimbrel at the back end. And yet, the Red Sox might not be the World Series favorite...

...Because of what Houston is doing. The defending champs are very possibly better than last year's team, are the owners of a plus-264 run differential, and their worst starting pitcher is Dallas Keuchel, who has a Cy Young in his recent past and would still be the best starter on several teams. Oh, and while Jose Altuve hasn't flashed his MVP form of last year, Alex Bregman is in the midst of a career year. Despite briefly faltering and having to beat back a furious charge by the Athletics, one can easily make the argument that the 'Stros are the best team in baseball, and they might well prove it again this fall.

Giancarlo Stanton's first season in the Bronx hasn't been a fitting follow-up to his MVP campaign last year, but he hasn't exactly been a slouch either. Stanton and Aaron Judge are modern-day Bash Brothers who pace a team that still has a shot at breaking the 1997 Mariners' single-season home run record. The Yankees need nine home runs, as of this writing, to set the mark, and even if that doesn't happen, their offense will be a problem for the rest of the American League's playoff teams -— assuming, that is, that they make it out of the wild card game against Oakland. 

Stop me if you've heard this one before: The Nationals entered the year as one of the National League favorites, only to miss the playoffs and disappoint their fans. This will be the third time it has happened in the last six seasons, with the other three years ending in NLDS disappointment, often in cruel fashion. Bryce Harper has likely played his last game in D.C., and his time with the club will be defined by expectations never met. The Nationals still haven't won a playoff series since the club moved from Montreal to Washington, D.C.

When your advance billing is the "Babe Ruth of Japan," you've got some lofty expectations to live up to. And while Shohei Ohtani didn't hit 60 home runs, he did hit 21 bombs, post an OPS over .900 and frequently baffle hitters when he took the mound, posting a 3.31 ERA with over a strikeout per inning. In many ways, Ohtani more than lived up to his incredible hype as a legitimate two-way player. His impending Tommy John surgery puts a significant damper on the pitching side of things, as he likely won't be able to throw again until 2020, but Ohtani still expects to DH for the Angels next season.

Let's just go right to the numbers on deGrom, shall we? He gave up four earned runs precisely one time all year. He gave up three earned runs five times and two earned runs five times. That's a total of 11 starts, all but one of which would likely be termed good to very good. In his other 21 starts, he gave up either one or no runs. He pitched at least six innings in all but three starts. He failed to reach the sixth inning only twice. He finished the year with a 1.70 ERA. Despite great years from Max Scherzer and Aaron Nola, it will be a crime if deGrom, whose only handicap is a 10-9 record thanks to the terrible Mets team he plays for, does not walk away with the NL Cy Young.

If you ever watched Christian Yelich ply his trade in Miami, you knew there were a lot of physical tools to like. Even at 21 you could see a lanky guy who would grow into his power. This year, he paid off all of that promise with Milwaukee, and it will possibly earn him the MVP. Yelich has sizzled from July onward and leads the National League in batting average, slugging percentage and OPS. Yelich's monthly OPS has been over 1.000 in July, August, and September, and he, along with Lorenzo Cain, is helping to carry the Brewers back into the playoffs.

A record of 47-46 through 93 games was not good enough. It figures that it wouldn't be in St. Louis, where fans expect to see the team run with smooth precision year in and year out. This year's Cards were in a funk, and there were credible rumors emerging that Matheny's clubhouse had issues. So the manager was let go, despite never having a losing season in his six-plus years on the job and thrice winning 90 or more games. It appears the move worked, too, because the Cardinals went 41-28 under Mike Shildt and came close to making the postseason. 

In the last 50 years, precisely one player has won the Triple Crown: Miguel Cabrera in 2012. J.D. Martinez won't pull it off this year, despite coming close, mostly due to his own teammate. Mookie Betts' spectacular season has seen him lead the American League in batting average, and Khris Davis has slightly outpaced Martinez in home runs. Worse yet, Martinez likely won't even get a sniff at the MVP Award, as that is Betts' to lose as well. Still, his run at baseball history was fun while it lasted, which was just about the entire season.

Debates about baseball's on-field product have raged for years, probably since the inception of the sport. But this year's discussions, which focused on rising strikeout totals and fewer balls in play, speak to the quality of the league's bullpen arms, plus a focus on launch angle and hitting more fly balls in an effort to get more home runs. Is the product good for the fans? The answer to that would likely vary depending on whom you ask, but strikeouts are at an all-time high and have been for several years running — and a nine-inning game still takes three hours, on average. Neither trend seems likely to change much.

The Home Run Derby is a hit-or-miss event for many fans, but there's not much debating that it was an exercise in pure fun and drama this year. With the All-Star Game in Washington, D.C., all eyes were on Bryce Harper, and he did not let the fans down, winning a final-round duel with Kyle Schwarber in scintillating fashion, 19-18. The crowd went nuts, everyone involved seemed to be having an absolute blast and baseball was cool and filled with attitude. More of that, please.

He is, for many, the greatest position player in Mets history. Depressingly, and in "Mets" fashion, his career was hampered and ultimately cut short by injuries that simply robbed him of his ability to play baseball pain-free. Wright's swan song at Citi Field on the season's final weekend marked the end of a career that saw him stand as one of the league's best players from 2005 until 2013. For Mets fans, his final appearance was bittersweet — a memory of what he gave them but also what could have been.

You haven't forgotten about Mike Trout, have you? The Angels were an also-ran this season, which is nothing new, but Trout is having his best season yet. He'll end up with career-best numbers in on-base-percentage and OPS, which leads the American League in both categories, and has every bit the case Mookie Betts does for MVP. He probably won't win it, owing mainly to the fact that his team stinks, but Trout remains the clear-cut best player in the sport and is still very much on pace to be one of the best of all time.

Ronald Acuna Jr. and Ozzie Albies started the season with a combined age of 41, and Acuna still can't buy beer legally in the United States. But the two have helped power the Braves to an NL East title, combining for some 50 home runs so, with Albies' power being particularly stunning as it comes from a middle infield position. Acuna has hit 19 home runs and notched an OPS over 1.000 since being moved to the leadoff spot in Atlanta's lineup after the All-Star Game. Their seasons, coupled with another steady, excellent campaign from Freddie Freeman, have Braves fans thinking big things with the postseason about to begin.

The Rockies were 82-70 at the end of the day on Sept. 19, having just been swept by the Dodgers. They were 2.5 games back in the NL West and 1.5 games out of the second wild card spot. Fast forward to Sept. 28, and Colorado hadn't lost since, reeling off seven straight wins. After winning two of three in their final series against the Nationals, the Rockies will face the Dodgers in a one-game playoff in the hopes of making the postseason in back-to-back seasons. Not bad for a team that looked to be on the ropes barely a week ago.

Soto will likely fall short in the Rookie of the Year race, owing to Ronald Acuna's incredible second-half surge. But here's a brief list of things Soto has done: He leads all MLB rookies with at least 450 plate appearances in batting average, on-base percentage, walks and RBI. He's merely second, and obviously a big slouch, in slugging, OPS and home runs. Did I mention that he's 19 years old? What were you doing at age 19? Unless you're Bryce Harper, the answer probably isn't "having a season like Juan Soto." Heck, even Harper's wasn't this good.

Love him or hate him, Hawk Harrelson certainly added some flair to all of his broadcasts. The longtime White Sox broadcaster called his final game on Sept. 24, a 6-1 loss to the crosstown Cubs. He was often ranked as the biggest homer among baseball broadcasters, a distinction he felt was an honor. If you're of the opinion that, for better or worse, an announcer can impact the enjoyment of a game, you probably have strong feelings on Harrelson.

Muncy was, to put it politely, a nobody before this year. He languished for two seasons in Oakland, didn't play in the majors last year, and all he's done this year is post a .956 OPS, hit 33 home runs and generally pace the Dodgers offensively. Usually it's Oakland getting the contributions from a no-name, but this time the joke was on them. If the Dodgers make the playoffs, they can thank Muncy for helping to carry them there, especially through some truly brutal injury-plagued stretches early in the season.

Leave it to the Rays, baseball's original trendsetters, to do something unusual again. In short, the Rays used a reliever to pitch the first inning or so of a game, sometimes more, then put the "normal" starter in. The technique has proved effective enough that the Rays ended up winning 90 games in the brutal AL East, with a roster that has no business doing so, at least on paper. Will the trend stick? It will take time, but the guess here is yes, given that teams have eventually copied most everything else that the Rays have done.