A little more than three weeks ago, with the Atlanta Braves' 2018 season about to begin, first baseman Freddie Freeman said of his team's potential:
"This is a huge year for us. You never know, this could be the year that we're the (2017) Twins. You don't get picked and next thing you know, we're there. We have a lot of guys who could make a huge impact this year and get us back to the playoffs."
For those who didn't keep up with the Twins' stunning wild-card run to the playoffs last season, the parent club of our Chattanooga Lookouts went from a 2016 record of 59-103 to a 2017 mark of 85-77 before losing its lone postseason game to the New York Yankees.
And despite Monday night's 2-0 loss at Washington, the Braves - who finished 72-90 in 2017 - are a fairly surprising 6-4 with a run differential of plus-27, which remains the best in the major leagues.
But does that give Braves Nation realistic reason to hope for a postseason for the first time in five years? Are these guys really better, or is this fool's gold, a whole lot of noise that ultimately will signify nothing more than modest improvement by the time August rolls around?
April not yet half done, any playoff predictions for these Braves are certainly risky. Yes, most everything appears to be on the uptick at the moment, the offense hugely so. And while No. 1 starting pitcher Julio Teheran certainly had struggled heading into Monday night's impressive showdown with Nationals ace Max Scherzer, the very fact that Atlanta was winning with no help from him is actually a plus.
Look around and Sean Newcomb just pitched more than six shutout innings in Sunday's 4-0 victory at Colorado. He struck out nine and retired 16 straight batters at one point.
To underscore further the impressiveness of that performance, the Braves had not shut out the Rockies in Denver since April 18, 1997 - which was 79 meetings ago. According to MLB.com, the starting pitcher for Atlanta that day was eventual Hall of Famer Tom Glavine. Like Newcomb, Glavine was a lefty from Massachusetts.
Among Braves arms, it's not just Newcomb who's hinting of a bright future in the Big Peach, however. The hot-and-cold bundle of talent Mike Foltynewicz has a 2.61 ERA with 15 strikeouts and a 1-0 record through 10 1/3 innings pitched. Brandon McCarthy and Anibal Sanchez have also delivered early good work.
And all of this has taken place without the help of the highly touted Next Big Thing in Braves Country: outfielder Ronald Acuna, who should be with the big club by this time next week.
But can it last long enough to produce a winning record, if not a playoff berth? The Braves' bats would appear to have the talent to stay hot, especially when Acuna takes the field, but Atlanta's arms - especially Teheran - may need warmer weather to reach their potential.
There's also the long-held truism of pitchers - and hitters - seeing young talent for a second or third time that could derail all of this. Sports, whatever the sport, is all about adjustments. Can you alter your game when the opponent alters his? Not to sound a negative note, but Atlanta was 45-45 a year ago only to crash and burn over the final 72 games, winning only 27 of those. For this still-young roster to avoid a similar swoon this summer, the ability to adapt is a must.
After all, the Braves battered Scherzer by 7-1 in Atlanta last week. On Monday he pitched a complete-game, 102-pitch masterpiece. Talk about adjustments.
Yet barring injuries, this team should be better, possibly much so, though Las Vegas predicted it to win only 74.5 games this time around and the professionals are rarely too far off those projections.
Still, regardless of how long it lasts, Atlanta looks better almost everywhere than a year ago. Even Teheran looked much more like his best self Monday against the Nationals, despite temperatures that were dipping into the 30s by the sixth inning.
"We're grinding," outfielder Nick Markakis said after Sunday's win in Denver. "We're playing baseball and we're playing well together. Our pitching has been outstanding. When you get good pitching, defense and timely hitting, good things happen."
If they can continue to get that more times than not, the Braves just might become the Twins of 2018. If nothing else, they figure to make more good things happen than most ever thought possible three weeks ago.
Contact Mark Wiedmer at mwiedmer@timesfreepress.com.