What sort of human has their best season ERA of their career at 39 years of age? Jesse Chavez, that’s who. Uncle Jesse has played all over:
- Pirates, 2008 and 2009
- Braves and Royals, 2010
- Royals, 2011
- Blue Jays and A’s, 2012
- A’s, 2013, 2014, 2015
- Blue Jays Dodgers, 2016
- Angels, 2017
- Angels, Rangers, and Cubs, 2018
- Rangers, 2019 and 2020
- Braves, 2021
- Cubs, Angels, and Braves 2022
- Braves 2023
9 different teams spanning 14 years, Chavez is a man well traveled but I’ve got a feeling that his traveling days are done and that he’ll either find his way back to the Braves or retire. Chavez, now 40, carried his best ERA to date in 2023, with a 1.56 ERA and a 1.09 WHIP over 34.2 innings. He was a steady presence in the bullpen for the first 2.5 months of the season before injury struck: a micro-fracture in his left shin courtesy of a 99 MPH line drive hit by Miguel Cabrera.
At that point, it looked like it would be a standard IL stint of 15 days and back at it, but the news kept getting worse. After the 15 days, Chavez could not put any weight on his left leg. Time went by…1 week, 2, 3, 4, and finally after the 5th week, Anthopoulos transferred Chavez to the 60-day IL. After a 3 month IL stint, Chavez took to the mound again on September 20th and was just as effective as he was before the injury. Unfortunately, Chavez was left off the NLDS roster, in what was likely to be health reasons, and we all know the rest.
Over the years, it’s apparent that the Braves like Chavez in the bullpen and Chavez likes playing for the Braves. Like Charlie Morton, who will also be 40 in 2024, Chavez, as long as he’s effective, will have a spot in the Braves bullpen as long as he can pitching meaningful innings.
Chavez and Soroka and Allard all seem like good MiLB deal potentials. Ian Anderson, too. Maybe even Tonkin and Heller and Stephens. I wonder how much the Braves can count on all of N. Anderson, Matzek, Ynoa, and Lee to come back in 2024 and be healthy. Some of that uncertainty is going to taint decisions on Jimenez and Yates. I think the Braves might bring back one of those two and pick up a FA reliever (preferably a lefty).
Hearing that we’re in mix for Nola.
Chavez has had two or more major league stints with the Braves, Rangers, Angels, Blue Jays, and Cubs. That seems like it ought to be close to a record. It also suggests that he’s well liked. Sort of the opposite of Kenny Lofton, who played for 11 teams but only Cleveland wanted him more than once. Lofton played (pretty effectively) for 9 different teams in his last six years.
I’d love to see Jesse stay with the team as a bullpen coach or something. His mojo and rapport with the team is pretty cool – and his wardrobe certainly adds color with some pretty drab personalities on the team. Hahaha
New thread.