Steven Thomas Avery (born April 14, 1970) is an American left-handed former pitcher in Major League Baseball (MLB).

[1] He made his first career start on June 13, 1990, against the Cincinnati Reds at Riverfront Stadium, giving up eight runs in 21⁄3 innings.

The pitching staff of Avery, Tom Glavine, John Smoltz, and Pete Smith were dubbed Atlanta's "Young Guns".

In 1992, Avery lowered his ERA to 3.20, but his record fell off to 11–11, mostly due to the Braves inability to score runs when he pitched.

[7] Many blame Avery's injury on his heavy workload as a young pitcher; he had started 135 major league games before reaching the age of 24.

In his second matchup with Schilling, the Braves again got Avery off the hook for the loss, but again ultimately lost the game in extra innings, 4–3.

In Game Four of the 1995 World Series, he was the surprise starter over ace Greg Maddux, and he was also the winner, 5–2, pitching six innings and giving up one run against the Cleveland Indians.

Atlanta manager Bobby Cox earned some criticism at the time owing to his decision to have Avery intentionally walk Bernie Williams to load the bases for Boggs.

[8] With his career in a sudden and premature decline, Avery was granted free agency and signed with the Boston Red Sox on January 22, 1997.

In 2003, Avery made a brief comeback with the Detroit Tigers team that threatened to break the 120-loss record of the 1962 New York Mets.

His final pitch was a double play caused when Paul Konerko lined to Avery and he threw Magglio Ordóñez out before he was able to get back to first base.