Steve Avery

Pitcher · Career Stats, Bio & Records (1990-2003)

Steve Avery was a pitcher who played in Major League Baseball from 1990 to 2003 for 4 teams, including the Atlanta Braves, a span of 14 seasons. Across 297 career appearances, he went 96-83 with a 4.19 ERA and 980 strikeouts. He also batted .174 with 4 home runs. Steve Avery was an All-Star and an NLCS MVP. His career Pitcher PIV — Baseball Data Hub's era-adjusted measure of pitching impact — is 4526.0.

W (Wins):
Games credited to a pitcher whose team took a lead it never surrendered while he was the pitcher of record.
ERA (Earned Run Average):
Earned runs allowed per nine innings pitched: (ER × 9) ÷ IP. The primary measure of pitching effectiveness.
SO (Strikeouts):
For a batter, times retired on a third strike; for a pitcher, batters retired on a third strike.
WHIP (Walks and Hits per Inning Pitched):
Baserunners allowed per inning: (BB + H) ÷ IP. Under 1.00 is elite.

Data updated

W–L 96–83
ERA 4.19
WHIP 1.35
SO 980
Pitcher PIV 4526.0
Position
Pitcher
Bats / Throws
L / L
Height / Weight
6'4" / 180 lb
Born
4/14/1970 in Trenton, MI, USA
MLB Debut
1990-06-13
Last Game
2003-07-20
Awards
All-Star · NLCS MVP

Full name: Steven Thomas Avery

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Career Pitching Statistics

Steve Avery — Career Pitching Statistics
W L G GS CG SHO SV IP H ER HR BB SO ERA Pitcher PIV
96 83 297 261 14 6 0 1554.2 1,529 723 148 569 980 4.19 4526.0

Career ERA 4.19 vs. league average 4.30 across their career seasons — near league average.

Season-by-Season Pitching

Pitching Career Arc

Click a stat to plot it across every season.

Steve Avery Stats, Bio & Career Records
Year Team Lg W L G GS CG SHO SV IP H ER BB SO ERA Lg ERA Pitcher PIV
1990 ATL NL 3 11 21 20 1 1 0 99.0 121 62 45 75 5.64 3.86 (-46%) 567.5
1991 ATL NL 18 8 35 35 3 1 0 210.1 189 79 65 137 3.38 3.91 (+14%) 495.8
1992 ATL NL 11 11 35 35 2 2 0 233.2 216 83 71 129 3.20 3.75 (+15%) 2302.1
1993 ATL NL 18 6 35 35 3 1 0 223.1 216 73 43 125 2.94 4.19 (+30%) 5426.0
1994 ATL NL 8 3 24 24 1 0 0 151.2 127 68 55 122 4.04 4.51 (+11%) 2098.4
1995 ATL NL 7 13 29 29 3 1 0 173.1 165 90 52 141 4.67 4.45 (-5%) 1440.1
1996 ATL NL 7 10 24 23 1 0 0 131.0 146 65 40 86 4.47 4.61 (+3%) 2530.3
1997 BOS AL 6 7 22 18 0 0 0 96.2 127 69 49 51 6.42 4.39 (-46%) -3056.1
1998 BOS AL 10 7 34 23 0 0 0 123.2 128 69 64 57 5.02 4.43 (-13%) -2804.0
1999 CIN NL 6 7 19 19 0 0 0 96.0 75 55 78 51 5.16 4.71 (-10%) -3171.2
2003 DET AL 2 0 19 0 0 0 0 16.0 19 10 7 6 5.62 4.40 (-28%) -1302.7
Career · 11 seasons 96 83 297 261 14 6 0 1,554.2 1,529 723 569 980 4.19 — 4,526

Lg columns show the league average for that season, with the player's figure as a percentage above or below it. Career totals the seasons listed above.

Career Batting Statistics

Steve Avery — Career Batting Statistics
G AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI SB BB SO AVG OBP SLG OPS PIV
306 437 35 76 14 4 4 32 1 12 135 .174 .194 .252 .446 -2,184

Career AVG .174 vs. league average .265 across their career seasons — 34.3% below league average.

Career OBP .194 vs. league average .334 across their career seasons — 41.9% below league average.

Career SLG .252 vs. league average .411 across their career seasons — 38.7% below league average.

Career OPS .446 vs. league average .745 across their career seasons — 40.2% below league average.

Season-by-Season Batting

Career Arc

Click a stat to plot it across every season.

Steve Avery Stats, Bio & Career Records
Year Team Lg G AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI SB BB SO AVG Lg AVG Lg OBP Lg SLG Lg OPS PIV
1990 ATL NL 21 30 1 4 0 0 0 0 0 0 7 .133 — — — — 0.0
1991 ATL NL 37 79 4 17 1 1 0 2 1 4 31 .215 .255 (-16%) .323 (-22%) .384 (-34%) .708 (-29%) -352.6
1992 ATL NL 35 76 8 13 2 1 0 4 0 3 22 .171 .255 (-33%) .322 (-37%) .377 (-41%) .699 (-39%) -470.1
1993 ATL NL 35 75 4 12 4 0 0 5 0 2 19 .160 .265 (-40%) .332 (-45%) .403 (-47%) .735 (-46%) -570.3
1994 ATL NL 24 49 4 5 2 0 0 5 0 1 16 .102 — — — — -574.1
1995 ATL NL 29 53 4 11 1 1 2 4 0 1 17 .208 .266 (-22%) .337 (-35%) .417 (-10%) .755 (-21%) -216.8
1996 ATL NL 24 46 5 11 4 1 2 11 0 1 12 .239 — — — — 0.0
1997 BOS AL 24 1 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000 — — — — 0.0
1998 BOS AL 39 1 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000 — — — — 0.0
1999 CIN NL 19 26 1 2 0 0 0 1 0 0 11 .077 — — — — 0.0
2003 DET AL 19 1 1 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1.000 — — — — 0.0
Career · 11 seasons 306 437 35 76 14 4 4 32 1 12 135 .174 — — — — -2,184

Lg columns show the league average for that season, with the player's figure as a percentage above or below it. Career totals the seasons listed above.

Postseason Statistics

Playoff Career Batting

Steve Avery — Playoff Career Batting
G AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI BB SO AVG
18 19 1 4 1 0 0 1 0 9 .211

Playoff Batting by Year

Steve Avery — Playoff Batting by Year
Year Round Team G AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI BB SO AVG
1996 NLCS ATL 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000
1996 WS ATL 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000
1995 NLCS ATL 2 2 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 .500
1995 NLDS1 ATL 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000
1995 WS ATL 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000
1993 NLCS ATL 2 4 1 2 1 0 0 0 0 1 .500
1992 NLCS ATL 3 2 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 1 .000
1992 WS ATL 2 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 .000
1991 NLCS ATL 2 7 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 4 .143
1991 WS ATL 2 3 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 2 .000

Playoff Career Pitching

Steve Avery — Playoff Career Pitching
W L G GS SV IP H ER BB SO ERA
5 3 18 12 0 77.2 61 25 29 60 2.90

Playoff Pitching by Year

Steve Avery — Playoff Pitching by Year
Year Round Team W L G GS SV IP H ER BB SO ERA
1996 NLCS ATL 0 0 2 0 0 2.0 2 0 1 1 0.00
1996 WS ATL 0 1 1 0 0 0.2 1 1 3 0 13.50
1995 NLCS ATL 1 0 2 1 0 6.0 2 0 4 6 0.00
1995 NLDS1 ATL 0 0 1 0 0 0.2 1 1 0 1 13.50
1995 WS ATL 1 0 1 1 0 6.0 3 1 5 3 1.50
1993 NLCS ATL 0 0 2 2 0 13.0 9 4 6 10 2.77
1992 NLCS ATL 1 1 3 2 0 8.0 13 8 2 3 9.00
1992 WS ATL 0 1 2 2 0 12.0 11 5 3 11 3.75
1991 NLCS ATL 2 0 2 2 0 16.1 9 0 4 17 0.00
1991 WS ATL 0 0 2 2 0 13.0 10 5 1 8 3.46

Game Log & Splits

View full game log (603 games) →

Per-game data from Retrosheet (regular season, through 2025).

Batting — Home / Away

Steve Avery — Batting — Home / Away
SplitGABRHHRRBIAVG
Home1572021837321.183
Away1492351739111.166

Pitching — Home / Away

Steve Avery — Pitching — Home / Away
SplitGIPHERBBSOERA
Home151799.07873512885053.95
Away146755.27423722814754.43

Last 10 Games — Pitching

Steve Avery — Last 10 Games — Pitching
DateTmOppDecIPHRERBBSOHR
2003-07-20 DETCHW — 2.1432112
2003-07-12 DETBOS — 0.1100000
2003-07-11 DETBOS — 0.1000000
2003-07-04 DETKCR — 1.0000000
2003-06-27 DETAZ — 0.2100000
2003-06-25 DETBOS — 0.1233101
2003-06-23 DETBOS — 0.1000100
2003-06-17 DETCLE — 1.0211010
2003-06-13 DETCOL — 1.0000000
2003-06-07 DETSFG — 0.0111001

Fielding Statistics

Career Fielding Totals by Position

Steve Avery — Career Fielding Totals by Position
Position G GS PO A E DP
P 297 261 63 302 13 13

Season-by-Season Fielding

Steve Avery — Season-by-Season Fielding
Year Team Pos G GS PO A E DP
1990 ATL P 21 20 4 22 2 0
1991 ATL P 35 35 9 31 1 2
1992 ATL P 35 35 16 36 3 1
1993 ATL P 35 35 4 47 0 2
1994 ATL P 24 24 4 26 1 0
1995 ATL P 29 29 3 37 2 1
1996 ATL P 24 23 8 26 2 0
1997 BOS P 22 18 0 19 0 1
1998 BOS P 34 23 7 39 1 5
1999 CIN P 19 19 4 16 1 0
2003 DET P 19 0 4 3 0 1

Career Games by Position

Position Diamond

Circle size = games played at each position.

Steve Avery Stats, Bio & Career Records
Position Games
Pitcher 297

Awards & Honors

Steve Avery — Awards & Honors
Year Award Notes
1993 Player of the Week Week of 1993-06-12
1993 TSN All-Star LHP
1991 NLCS MVP
1991 Player of the Week Week of 1991-09-14

Salary History

Steve Avery — Salary History
Year Team League Salary
1999 CIN NL $750,000
1998 BOS AL $3,900,000
1997 BOS AL $4,850,000
1996 ATL NL $4,200,000
1995 ATL NL $4,000,000
1994 ATL NL $2,800,000
1993 ATL NL $560,000
1992 ATL NL $355,000
1991 ATL NL $110,000
Total Career Earnings $21,525,000

Award Voting History

Steve Avery — Award Voting History
Year Award League Finish Points Won Points Max Votes First
1991 Cy Young Award NL 6th 1.0 120 0

Most Similar Players

Career comps based on counting + rate stats and primary position. Score is relative — closest peer anchors at ~98%.

Career Spans

Steve Avery (highlighted) compared to peers across the same era.

  1. 98
    Jim Deshaies
    84-95, 4.14 ERA
  2. 96
    Dennis Rasmussen
    91-77, 4.15 ERA
  3. 80
    Larry McWilliams
    78-90, 3.99 ERA
  4. 78
    Steve Stone
    107-93, 3.97 ERA
  5. 73
    Jason Vargas
    99-99, 4.29 ERA
  6. 73
    Paul Maholm
    77-100, 4.30 ERA

Steve Avery: the record in brief

June 13, 1990 and July 20, 2003 bracket Steve Avery's time in the majors: the debut and the last game on record. Avery played for the Atlanta Braves (1990 through 1996), the Boston Red Sox (1997 to 1998), the Cincinnati Reds (1999), and the Detroit Tigers (2003). Avery is listed as a pitcher at 6-foot-4 and 180 pounds. Avery batted and threw left-handed, per the bio block. Avery was born on April 14, 1970, in Trenton, MI, USA. Avery's full given name, per the bio, is Steven Thomas Avery.

Avery went 96-83 with a 4.19 ERA in 297 games, 261 of them starts. Avery had 980 strikeouts, 14 complete games, and 6 shutouts. Avery's 4.19 ERA was close to the 4.30 league figure for those seasons. 1991 brought Avery a season-high 18 wins. 1995 produced Avery's most strikeouts, 141. 1993 was Avery's sharpest full season, a 2.94 ERA against the league's 4.19.

Frequently Asked Questions about Steve Avery

What years did Steve Avery play?
Steve Avery played in Major League Baseball from 1990 to 2003.
Was Steve Avery a pitcher?
Yes. Steve Avery pitched in the major leagues, recording 96 wins and 980 strikeouts.
How many home runs did Steve Avery hit?
Steve Avery hit 4 career home runs with 76 hits.
What was Steve Avery's career batting average?
Steve Avery batted .174 over his career, with 76 hits in 437 at bats.
How many RBI did Steve Avery have?
Steve Avery drove in 32 runs in his career.
What was Steve Avery's career ERA?
Steve Avery finished with a 4.19 career ERA, going 96-83 with 980 strikeouts.