2018 Carolina League season

2018 Carolina League season
League	Carolina League
Sport	Baseball
Duration	April 5 – September 3
Number of games	140
Number of teams	10
Regular season
Season MVP	Bobby Dalbec, Salem Red Sox
Playoffs
League champions	Buies Creek Astros
Runners-up	Potomac Nationals

The 2018 Carolina League was a Class A-Advanced baseball season played between April 5 and September 3. Ten teams played a 140-game schedule, with two teams from each division competing in the playoffs.

The Buies Creek Astros won the Carolina League championship, defeating the Potomac Nationals in the final round.

Teams

2018 Carolina League
Division	Team	City	MLB Affiliate	Stadium
North	Frederick Keys	Frederick, Maryland	Baltimore Orioles	Harry Grove Stadium
	Lynchburg Hillcats	Lynchburg, Virginia	Cleveland Indians	Calvin Falwell Field
	Potomac Nationals	Woodbridge, Virginia	Washington Nationals	Northwest Federal Field at Pfitzner Stadium
	Salem Red Sox	Salem, Virginia	Boston Red Sox	Haley Toyota Field
	Wilmington Blue Rocks	Wilmington, Delaware	Kansas City Royals	Daniel S. Frawley Stadium
South	Buies Creek Astros	Buies Creek, North Carolina	Houston Astros	Jim Perry Stadium
	Carolina Mudcats	Zebulon, North Carolina	Milwaukee Brewers	Five County Stadium
	Down East Wood Ducks	Kinston, North Carolina	Texas Rangers	Grainger Stadium
	Myrtle Beach Pelicans	Myrtle Beach, South Carolina	Chicago Cubs	TicketReturn.com Field
	Winston-Salem Dash	Winston-Salem, North Carolina	Chicago White Sox	BB&T Ballpark

Map of teams

Frederick

Lynchburg

Potomac

Salem

Wilmington

Buies Creek

Carolina

Down East

Myrtle Beach

Winston-Salem

North division South division

Regular season

Summary

• The Winston-Salem Dash finished with the best record in the league for the first time since 2012.

Standings

North division
Team	Win	Loss	%	GB
Potomac Nationals	74	62	.544	–
Lynchburg Hillcats	71	66	.518	3.5
Wilmington Blue Rocks	68	72	.486	8
Frederick Keys	65	72	.474	9.5
Salem Red Sox	63	75	.457	12
South division
Winston-Salem Dash	84	54	.609	–
Buies Creek Astros	80	57	.584	3.5
Carolina Mudcats	65	73	.471	19
Myrtle Beach Pelicans	61	78	.439	23.5
Down East Wood Ducks	59	81	.421	26

League Leaders

Batting leaders

Stat	Player	Total
AVG	Ryan McKenna, Frederick Keys	.377
H	Osvaldo Duarte, Buies Creek Astros	134
R	Blake Perkins, Potomac / Wilmington	87
2B	Gabriel Cancel, Wilmington Blue Rocks Brett Netzer, Salem Red Sox	31
3B	Osvaldo Duarte, Buies Creek Astros Blake Rutherford, Winston-Salem Dash	9
HR	Bobby Dalbec, Salem Red Sox	26
RBI	Bobby Dalbec, Salem Red Sox	85
SB	D.J. Burt, Wilmington Blue Rocks	32

Pitching leaders

Stat	Player	Total
W	Cristian Alvarado, Frederick Keys	12
ERA	Cam Roegner, Carolina Mudcats	2.16
SV	Luke Barker, Carolina Mudcats	20
SO	Tyson Miller, Myrtle Beach Pelicans	126
IP	Cristian Alvarado, Frederick Keys	155.0

Playoffs

• Due to Hurricane Florence, the final round of the playoffs was limited to only one game before the remainder of the series was canceled.
• The Buies Creek Astros won their first Carolina League championship, defeating the Potomac Nationals in one game.
• The semi-finals were changed from a best-of-three series to a best-of-five series.

Playoff bracket

	Semi-finals					Finals
	N1	Potomac	3
	N2	Lynchburg	2
						N1	Potomac	0
						S2	Buies Creek	1
	S1	Winston-Salem	0
	S2	Buies Creek	3

Awards

Carolina League awards
Award name	Recipient
Most Valuable Player	Bobby Dalbec, Salem Red Sox
Pitcher of the Year	Wil Crowe, Potomac Nationals
Manager of the Year	Omar Vizquel, Winston-Salem Dash

See also

• 2018 Major League Baseball season

External links

• Minor League Baseball official website