# 1988 Atlanta Braves season

The 1988 Atlanta Braves season was the 118th in franchise history and their 23rd in Atlanta.

## Offseason

* November 13, 1987: Ken Griffey, Sr. was signed as a free agent by the Braves.
* December 6, 1987: Graig Nettles was signed as a free agent by the Braves.
* December 8, 1987: Ed Whited was traded by the Houston Astros with Mike Stoker (minors) to the Atlanta Braves for Rafael Ramirez and cash.
* March 24, 1988: Graig Nettles was purchased from the Braves by the Montreal Expos.

## Regular season
### Season standings

vteNL West :
| Team | W | L | Pct. | GB | Home | Road |
| Los Angeles Dodgers | 94 | 67 | .584 | — | 45‍–‍36 | 49‍–‍31 |
| Cincinnati Reds | 87 | 74 | .540 | 7 | 45‍–‍35 | 42‍–‍39 |
| San Diego Padres | 83 | 78 | .516 | 11 | 47‍–‍34 | 36‍–‍44 |
| San Francisco Giants | 83 | 79 | .512 | 11½ | 45‍–‍36 | 38‍–‍43 |
| Houston Astros | 82 | 80 | .506 | 12½ | 44‍–‍37 | 38‍–‍43 |
| Atlanta Braves | 54 | 106 | .338 | 39½ | 28‍–‍51 | 26‍–‍55 |

### Record vs. opponents

1988 National League recordvte Sources: :
| Team | ATL | CHC | CIN | HOU | LAD | MON | NYM | PHI | PIT | SD | SF | STL |
| Atlanta | — | 5–7 | 5–13 | 5–13 | 4–14 | 4–8 | 4–8 | 6–6 | 5–5 | 8–10 | 5–13 | 3–9 |
| Chicago | 7–5 | — | 6–6 | 7–5 | 4–8–1 | 9–9 | 9–9 | 8–10 | 7–11 | 8–4 | 5–7 | 7–11 |
| Cincinnati | 13–5 | 6–6 | — | 9–9 | 7–11 | 5–7 | 4–7 | 9–3 | 7–5 | 10–8 | 11–7 | 6–6 |
| Houston | 13–5 | 5–7 | 9–9 | — | 9–9 | 6–6 | 5–7 | 8–4 | 8–4 | 6–12 | 7–11 | 6–6 |
| Los Angeles | 14–4 | 8–4–1 | 11–7 | 9–9 | — | 8–4 | 1–10 | 11–1 | 6–6 | 7–11 | 12–6 | 7–5 |
| Montreal | 8–4 | 9–9 | 7–5 | 6–6 | 4–8 | — | 6–12 | 9–9–1 | 8–10 | 4–8 | 7–5 | 13–5 |
| New York | 8–4 | 9–9 | 7–4 | 7–5 | 10–1 | 12–6 | — | 10–8 | 12–6 | 7–5 | 4–8 | 14–4 |
| Philadelphia | 6-6 | 10–8 | 3–9 | 4–8 | 1–11 | 9–9–1 | 8–10 | — | 7–11 | 4–7 | 7–5 | 6–12 |
| Pittsburgh | 5–5 | 11–7 | 5–7 | 4–8 | 6–6 | 10–8 | 6–12 | 11–7 | — | 8–4 | 8–4 | 11–7 |
| San Diego | 10–8 | 4–8 | 8–10 | 12–6 | 11–7 | 8–4 | 5–7 | 7–4 | 4–8 | — | 8–10 | 6–6 |
| San Francisco | 13–5 | 7–5 | 7–11 | 11–7 | 6–12 | 5–7 | 8–4 | 5–7 | 4–8 | 10–8 | — | 7–5 |
| St. Louis | 9–3 | 11–7 | 6–6 | 6–6 | 5–7 | 5–13 | 4–14 | 12–6 | 7–11 | 6–6 | 5–7 | — |

### Notable transactions

* May 17, 1988: Jerry Royster was signed as a free agent with the Atlanta Braves.
* May 20, 1988: Melvin Nieves was signed by the Braves as an amateur free agent.
* June 1, 1988: 1988 Major League Baseball draft
** Steve Avery was drafted by the Braves in the 1st round (3rd pick). Player signed June 30, 1988.
** Turk Wendell was drafted by the Braves in the 5th round. Player signed June 4, 1988.
* July 28, 1988: Ken Griffey, Sr. was released by the Braves.

### 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 | Ozzie Virgil, Jr. | 107 | 320 | 82 | .256 | 9 | 31 |
| 1B | Gerald Perry | 141 | 547 | 164 | .300 | 8 | 74 |
| 2B | Ron Gant | 146 | 563 | 146 | .259 | 19 | 60 |
| 3B | Ken Oberkfell | 120 | 422 | 117 | .277 | 3 | 40 |
| SS | Andrés Thomas | 153 | 606 | 153 | .252 | 13 | 68 |
| LF | Dion James | 132 | 386 | 99 | .256 | 3 | 60 |
| CF | Terry Blocker | 66 | 198 | 42 | .212 | 2 | 10 |
| RF | Dale Murphy | 156 | 592 | 134 | .226 | 24 | 77 |

#### 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 |
| Bruce Benedict | 90 | 236 | 57 | .242 | 0 | 19 |
| Albert Hall | 85 | 231 | 57 | .247 | 1 | 15 |
| Ken Griffey | 69 | 193 | 48 | .249 | 2 | 19 |
| Lonnie Smith | 43 | 114 | 27 | .237 | 3 | 9 |
| Gary Roenicke | 49 | 114 | 26 | .228 | 1 | 7 |
| Ted Simmons | 78 | 107 | 21 | .196 | 2 | 11 |
| Jerry Royster | 68 | 102 | 18 | .176 | 0 | 1 |
| Jim Morrison | 51 | 92 | 14 | .152 | 2 | 13 |
| Paul Runge | 52 | 76 | 16 | .211 | 0 | 7 |
| Jeff Blauser | 18 | 67 | 16 | .239 | 2 | 7 |
| Dámaso García | 21 | 60 | 7 | .117 | 1 | 4 |
| Mark Lemke | 16 | 58 | 13 | .224 | 0 | 2 |
| Tommy Gregg | 11 | 29 | 10 | .345 | 0 | 4 |
| Jody Davis | 2 | 8 | 2 | .250 | 1 | 3 |

### 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 |
| Rick Mahler | 39 | 249.0 | 9 | 16 | 3.69 | 131 |
| Tom Glavine | 34 | 195.1 | 7 | 17 | 4.56 | 84 |
| Pete Smith | 32 | 195.1 | 7 | 15 | 3.69 | 124 |
| Zane Smith | 23 | 140.1 | 5 | 10 | 4.30 | 59 |
| John Smoltz | 12 | 64.0 | 2 | 7 | 5.48 | 37 |
| Kevin Blankenship | 2 | 10.2 | 0 | 1 | 3.38 | 5 |

#### 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 |
| Kevin Coffman | 18 | 67.0 | 2 | 6 | 5.78 | 24 |
| Germán Jiménez | 15 | 55.2 | 1 | 6 | 5.01 | 26 |

#### 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 |
| Bruce Sutter | 38 | 1 | 4 | 14 | 4.76 | 40 |
| Paul Assenmacher | 64 | 8 | 7 | 5 | 3.06 | 71 |
| Jose Alvarez | 60 | 5 | 6 | 3 | 2.99 | 81 |
| Charlie Puleo | 53 | 5 | 5 | 1 | 3.47 | 70 |
| Jim Acker | 21 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 4.71 | 25 |
| Juan Eichelberger | 20 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 3.86 | 13 |
| Joe Boever | 16 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 1.77 | 7 |
| Ed Olwine | 16 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 6.75 | 5 |
| Chuck Cary | 7 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 6.48 | 7 |
| Gary Eave | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 9.00 | 0 |
| Jim Morrison | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0.00 | 1 |

## Farm system

| Level | Team | League | Manager |
| AAA | Richmond Braves | International League | Jim Beauchamp |
| AA | Greenville Braves | Southern League | Russ Nixon and Buddy Bailey |
| A | Durham Bulls | Carolina League | Buddy Bailey and Grady Little |
| A | Burlington Braves | Midwest League | Grady Little and Rick Albert |
| A | Sumter Braves | South Atlantic League | Ned Yost |
| Rookie | Pulaski Braves | Appalachian League | Cloyd Boyer |
| Rookie | GCL Braves | Gulf Coast League | Pedro González |
| Rookie | Idaho Falls Braves | Pioneer League | Jim Procopio |

## Awards and honors

* Dale Murphy, Roberto Clemente Award