# 1990 Atlanta Braves season

The 1990 Atlanta Braves season was the team's 25th season in Atlanta, the 115th in franchise history as a member of the National League and the 120th season overall. The Braves went 65–97, en route to their sixth-place finish in the National League West, 26 games behind the World Champion Cincinnati Reds, and ending up with the worst record that year. On June 22, Bobby Cox replaced Russ Nixon as the team's manager, a job Cox would hold for the next two decades.

## Offseason

* November 20, 1989: Mark Eichhorn was released by the Atlanta Braves.
* December 15, 1989: Gerald Perry and Jim LeMasters (minors) were traded by the Braves to the Kansas City Royals for Charlie Leibrandt and Rick Luecken.
* December 17, 1989: Ricky Trlicek was traded by the Braves to the Toronto Blue Jays for Ernie Whitt and Kevin Batiste.

## Regular season

* July 4, 1990: Ron Gant had 6 RBIs in one game against the New York Mets.
* David Justice won the National League Rookie of the Year Award.

### Season standings

vteNL West :
| Team | W | L | Pct. | GB | Home | Road |
| Cincinnati Reds | 91 | 71 | .562 | — | 46‍–‍35 | 45‍–‍36 |
| Los Angeles Dodgers | 86 | 76 | .531 | 5 | 47‍–‍34 | 39‍–‍42 |
| San Francisco Giants | 85 | 77 | .525 | 6 | 49‍–‍32 | 36‍–‍45 |
| Houston Astros | 75 | 87 | .463 | 16 | 49‍–‍32 | 26‍–‍55 |
| San Diego Padres | 75 | 87 | .463 | 16 | 37‍–‍44 | 38‍–‍43 |
| Atlanta Braves | 65 | 97 | .401 | 26 | 37‍–‍44 | 28‍–‍53 |

### Record vs. opponents

1990 National League recordvte Sources: :
| Team | ATL | CHC | CIN | HOU | LAD | MON | NYM | PHI | PIT | SD | SF | STL |
| Atlanta | — | 6–6 | 8–10 | 5–13 | 6–12 | 6–6 | 4–8 | 5–7 | 5–7 | 8–10 | 5–13 | 7–5 |
| Chicago | 6–6 | — | 4–8 | 6–6 | 3–9 | 11–7 | 9–9 | 11–7 | 4–14 | 8–4 | 7–5 | 8–10 |
| Cincinnati | 10–8 | 8–4 | — | 11–7 | 9–9 | 9–3 | 6–6 | 7–5 | 6–6 | 9–9 | 7–11 | 9–3 |
| Houston | 13–5 | 6–6 | 7–11 | — | 9–9 | 5–7 | 5–7 | 5–7 | 5–7 | 4–14 | 10–8 | 6–6 |
| Los Angeles | 12–6 | 9–3 | 9–9 | 9–9 | — | 6–6 | 5–7 | 8–4 | 4–8 | 9–9 | 8–10 | 7–5 |
| Montreal | 6–6 | 7–11 | 3–9 | 7–5 | 6–6 | — | 8–10 | 10–8 | 13–5 | 7–5 | 7–5 | 11–7 |
| New York | 8–4 | 9–9 | 6–6 | 7–5 | 7–5 | 10–8 | — | 10–8 | 10–8 | 5–7 | 7–5 | 12–6 |
| Philadelphia | 7-5 | 7–11 | 5–7 | 7–5 | 4–8 | 8–10 | 8–10 | — | 6–12 | 7–5 | 8–4 | 10–8 |
| Pittsburgh | 7–5 | 14–4 | 6–6 | 7–5 | 8–4 | 5–13 | 8–10 | 12–6 | — | 10–2 | 8–4 | 10–8 |
| San Diego | 10–8 | 4–8 | 9–9 | 14–4 | 9–9 | 5–7 | 7–5 | 5–7 | 2–10 | — | 7–11 | 3–9 |
| San Francisco | 13–5 | 5–7 | 11–7 | 8–10 | 10–8 | 5–7 | 5–7 | 4–8 | 4–8 | 11–7 | — | 9–3 |
| St. Louis | 5–7 | 10–8 | 3–9 | 6–6 | 5–7 | 7–11 | 6–12 | 8–10 | 8–10 | 9–3 | 3–9 | — |

### Notable transactions

* April 30, 1990: Sergio Valdez was selected off waivers from the Braves by the Cleveland Indians.
* May 2, 1990: Greg Tubbs was traded by the Braves to the Pittsburgh Pirates for Rico Rossy.
* July 12, 1990: Derek Lilliquist was traded by the Braves to the San Diego Padres for Mark Grant.
* July 23, 1990: Marvin Freeman was traded by the Philadelphia Phillies to the Braves for Joe Boever.
* August 3, 1990: Dale Murphy was traded by the Braves with a player to be named later to the Philadelphia Phillies for players to be named later and Jeff Parrett. The Braves sent Tommy Greene (August 9, 1990) to the Phillies to complete the trade. The Phillies sent Jim Vatcher (August 9, 1990) and Víctor Rosario (September 4, 1990) to the Braves to complete the trade.
* August 16, 1990: Billy Taylor was signed as a free agent by the Braves.

#### Draft picks

* June 4, 1990: 1990 Major League Baseball Draft
** Chipper Jones was drafted by the Braves in the 1st round.
** Joe Ayrault was drafted by the Braves in the 5th round.

### Roster
## Player stats
### Batting
#### Starters by position

Note: Pos = Position; G = Games played; AB = At bats; H = Hits; Avg. = Batting average; HR = Home runs; RBI = Runs batted in
| Pos | Player | G | AB | H | Avg. | HR | RBI |
| C | Greg Olson | 100 | 298 | 78 | .262 | 7 | 36 |
| 1B | David Justice | 127 | 439 | 124 | .282 | 28 | 78 |
| 2B | Jeff Treadway | 128 | 474 | 134 | .283 | 11 | 59 |
| SS | Jeff Blauser | 115 | 386 | 104 | .269 | 8 | 39 |
| 3B | Jim Presley | 140 | 541 | 131 | .242 | 19 | 72 |
| LF | Lonnie Smith | 135 | 466 | 142 | .305 | 9 | 42 |
| CF | Ron Gant | 152 | 575 | 174 | .303 | 32 | 84 |
| RF | Dale Murphy | 97 | 349 | 81 | .232 | 17 | 55 |

#### Other batters

Note: G = Games played; AB = At bats; H = Hits; Avg. = Batting average; HR = Home runs; RBI = Runs batted in
| Player | G | AB | H | Avg. | HR | RBI |
| Oddibe McDowell | 113 | 305 | 74 | .243 | 7 | 25 |
| Andres Thomas | 84 | 278 | 61 | .219 | 5 | 30 |
| Mark Lemke | 102 | 239 | 54 | .226 | 0 | 21 |
| Tommy Gregg | 124 | 239 | 63 | .264 | 5 | 32 |
| Ernie Whitt | 67 | 180 | 31 | .172 | 2 | 10 |
| Francisco Cabrera | 63 | 137 | 38 | .277 | 7 | 25 |
| Jimmy Kremers | 29 | 73 | 8 | .110 | 1 | 2 |
| Mike Bell | 36 | 45 | 11 | .244 | 1 | 5 |
| Nick Esasky | 9 | 35 | 6 | .171 | 0 | 0 |
| Alexis Infante | 20 | 28 | 1 | .036 | 0 | 0 |
| Jody Davis | 12 | 28 | 2 | .071 | 0 | 1 |
| Kelly Mann | 11 | 28 | 4 | .143 | 1 | 2 |
| Jim Vatcher | 21 | 27 | 7 | .259 | 0 | 3 |
| Víctor Rosario | 9 | 7 | 1 | .143 | 0 | 0 |
| Geronimo Berroa | 7 | 4 | 0 | .000 | 0 | 0 |

### Pitching
#### Starting pitchers

Note: G = Games pitched; IP = Innings pitched; W = Wins; L = Losses; ERA = Earned run average; SO = Strikeouts
| Player | G | IP | W | L | ERA | SO |
| John Smoltz | 34 | 231.1 | 14 | 11 | 3.85 | 170 |
| Tom Glavine | 33 | 214.1 | 10 | 12 | 4.28 | 129 |
| Charlie Leibrandt | 24 | 162.0 | 9 | 11 | 3.16 | 76 |
| Pete Smith | 13 | 77.0 | 5 | 6 | 4.79 | 56 |
| Derek Lilliquist | 12 | 61.2 | 2 | 8 | 6.28 | 34 |
| Paul Marak | 7 | 39.0 | 1 | 2 | 3.69 | 15 |

#### Other pitchers

Note: G = Games pitched; IP = Innings pitched; W = Wins; L = Losses; ERA = Earned run average; SO = Strikeouts
| Player | G | IP | W | L | ERA | SO |
| Marty Clary | 33 | 101.2 | 1 | 10 | 5.67 | 44 |
| Steve Avery | 21 | 99.0 | 3 | 11 | 5.64 | 75 |
| Tommy Greene | 5 | 12.1 | 1 | 0 | 8.03 | 4 |

#### Relief pitchers

Note: G = Games pitched; W = Wins; L = Losses; SV = Saves; ERA = Earned run average; SO = Strikeouts
| Player | G | W | L | SV | ERA | SO |
| Joe Boever | 33 | 1 | 3 | 8 | 4.68 | 35 |
| Tony Castillo | 52 | 5 | 1 | 1 | 4.23 | 64 |
| Rick Luecken | 36 | 1 | 4 | 1 | 5.77 | 35 |
| Kent Mercker | 36 | 4 | 7 | 7 | 3.17 | 39 |
| Dwayne Henry | 34 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 5.63 | 34 |
| Mark Grant | 33 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4.64 | 40 |
| Joe Hesketh | 31 | 0 | 2 | 5 | 5.81 | 21 |
| Charlie Kerfeld | 25 | 3 | 1 | 2 | 5.58 | 27 |
| Jeff Parrett | 20 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 3.00 | 17 |
| Marvin Freeman | 9 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1.72 | 12 |
| Mike Stanton | 7 | 0 | 3 | 2 | 18.00 | 7 |
| Sergio Valdez | 6 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 6.75 | 3 |
| Doug Sisk | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3.86 | 1 |
| Rusty Richards | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 27.00 | 0 |

## Award winners

* David Justice, Player of the Month, August
* David Justice, National League Rookie of the Year Award
1990 Major League Baseball All-Star Game
* Greg Olson, catcher

## Farm system

| Level | Team | League | Manager |
| AAA | Richmond Braves | International League | Jim Beauchamp |
| AA | Greenville Braves | Southern League | Buddy Bailey |
| A | Durham Bulls | Carolina League | Grady Little |
| A | Burlington Braves | Midwest League | Jim Saul |
| A | Sumter Braves | South Atlantic League | Ned Yost |
| Rookie | Pulaski Braves | Appalachian League | Randy Ingle |
| Rookie | GCL Braves | Gulf Coast League | Jim Procopio |
| Rookie | Idaho Falls Braves | Pioneer League | Steve Curry |