By my count, Jesse Chavez was the third-oldest active player in baseball, three and a half years younger than Rich Hill and six months younger than Justin Verlander; he’s three months older than Charlie Morton, who was the fourth-oldest.
He had another good year: 3.13 ERA over 63 1/3 innings, the third-most used reliever in the pen. But as I noted a few days ago, his superficially good totals masked a high-wire act that plummeted in the second half. To wit:
1st Half: Appeared in 30 of the team’s 95 games (32%), 41 1/3 IP, 1.74 ERA
2nd Half: Appeared in 16 of the team’s 67 games (24%), 22 IP, 5.73 ERA
At this point, we all know about the miracle of his career, but it still bears repeating one more time.
Since his debut with the Pirates in 2008, he has thrown 1134 innings across parts of 17 seasons with nine different teams. And here’s how his results break down:
Atlanta Braves: 186 G (6 GS), 221.1 IP, 3.09 ERA, 3.52 FIP, 3.2 K/BB, 3.7 WAR
All other teams: 467 G (79 GS), 912.2 IP, 4.52 ERA, 4.37 FIP, 2.8 K/BB, 3.2 WAR
With them, he’s just another guy. With us, he’s a valuable middle reliever.
A year ago, he hinted that he might retire after the season. He hasn’t said anything publicly since then that I’m aware of, but it wouldn’t be a shock to any of us if he followed through on that. It would be a fine year to go out on, and he’s been one of the most fun players I’ve ever rooted for.
Thanks, Uncle Jesse.
I will believe Jesse is retiring when he has been out of the league 5 years. Julio Franco is reportedly still hitting .280 in Mexico
Still rapping those liners to right over a leaping second baseman, I’m sure. Although at this point a right fielder with any arm could probably throw him out at first.
I’m sure Julio is still in incredible shape.
Guys and gals, there’s a whole lot of smoke blowing the Braves way. If you saw my Twitter feed in the past few weeks, you know that I swung and missed on the date of a signing. However, I have full faith that this coming week is going to answer a lot of questions about the inactivity of AA.
All in good time, but if what I think will happen goes through, we are all going to be very happy.
Also, I think there’s a reason why some signings have been delayed and that reason lies in a full 40-man roster.
Sorry I’ve been away for a bit. My youngest boy Rocco became very ill and started having seizures. Everything is all good now and I’m back to writing and publishing pieces.
Happy New Year, Braves Journalers!
Happy New Year, and best wishes to Rocco and the family.
Hope Rocco is ok. Best to all the Cothran family.
And now you’ve really got my curiosity up. I’ve been assuming AA is up to something, but at this point my I can’t quite imagine what. Rosenthal’s piece in the Athletic suggested they may not do much more because RAJ and Strider may be ready earlier than they previously indicated.
So sorry to hear that. Thoughts and prayers. Thanks for all you do.
Your lips to GOD’s ears, Ryan.
Best, Ryan. Verlander is off the market for the same contract Morton signed. Would’ve been a nice gamble, and I bet it works out for the Giants.
The Braves were in on Verlander, but I was told the shoulder was the holdup.
Wishing the best for Rocco and family.
Hope Rocco is well and done with the seizures. That’s a very scary and helpless feeling as a parent. Our son started having multiple kinds of seizures out of nowhere when he was 2. Rough 8 months until we found a medication that controlled them. He still takes the med but hasn’t had a seizure in almost 7 years.
Sasaki, i would love it. Maybe thats the delay too?
Seeing reports Scherzer is a done deal? Is it true?
No way is Scherzer staying healthy. I’d sign him as a reliever though.
Best to you & yours, Ryan.