10. Steve Avery, Starting Pitcher, Atlanta Braves
In a loaded rotation featuring Cy Young winner Tom Glavine and Jon Smoltz, it was young phenom Steve Avery that took home the 1991 NLCS hardware instead. Avery tossed 16.1 scoreless innings over the span of two starts against the Pittsburgh Pirates, who managed to only collect nine hits off of the Atlanta starter in his two starts.
At the time, the selection of Avery as the Series MVP came as no surprise as he went 18-8 during the ’91 campaign to the tune of 3.38 ERA. However, the remainder of Avery’s career didn’t quite pan out as expected which earned him a spot on this list. Avery led the league in starts with 35 the following year and was named an All-Star for the only time in his career in 1993 by going 18-6.
However, an arm injury after the ’93 season threw Avery’s promising career trajectory off path, as the once young stud finished with a record under .500 in four of the next six seasons, leaving his dominant ’91 NLCS against Pittsburgh the highlight of his what-could-have-been career.
About Steve Fiorentine