This one is going to hurt - but it’s time for a change in the Braves bullpen. Jesse Chavez has been a huge part of the Braves bullpen for years now, first making his name known all the way back in 2010 when a then 26 year old, appeared in 28 games for the Braves. Who would have guessed the lore that would be written in his name nearly 11 years later when Jesse not only came back, and provided Braves and fans one hilarious story.
We fast forward to 2021 when Jesse Chavez, coming off of a shortened 2020 season where he had a 6.88 ERA in 18 games for the Texas Rangers signed a minor league deal with the Atlanta Braves. Thrust into Atlanta, all Jesse did was appear in 30 games where he put together a miniscule 2.14 ERA for a team that won the World Series.
The following year he would sign a minor league deal with the Cubs, where he struggled across 3 games for the big league team. He would then be traded back to the Braves for starter Sean Newcomb and all Chavez did was put together a 2.14 ERA across 30 appearances.
Later that year he was then traded, along with Tucker Davidson, for closer Raisel Iglesias. While in an Angels jersey, Chavez once again struggled - putting together a 7.59 ERA in 11 games. He was then released by the Angels and then claimed, again, by the Braves.
In 2022, Jesse had the luxury of just signing with the Braves in the offseason and he put together another spectacular year in a Braves jersey - appearing in 46 games and putting together a 2.72 ERA before he was placed on the injured list. He would then return in 2023, now 39, and yet again put together another miraculous season appearing in 36 games and pitching to a ridiculous 1.56 ERA.
That takes us to this year, when Jesse signed with the White Sox before being released before the season started and eventually finding his way back to Atlanta where he made the opening day roster. At 40 years of age, you wouldn’t expect too much out of the reliever, but to start the season Jesse was absolutely shoving.
1,000 STRIKEOUTS FOR JESSE CHAVEZ 😤pic.twitter.com/JaPY3vBPZs
— Kevin Keneely (@KevinKeneely1) June 9, 2024
He was generating a ton of chatter amongst Braves fans and players for him to finally make his first All-Star game. In the first half of the season Jesse had a 1.74 ERA, and was limiting opponents to a .220 batting average against, but there were some indications that he was getting a bit lucky - evidenced by his 4.11 FIP.
Has father time finally caught up to Jesse Chavez?
Unfortunately, since the all-star break, Jesse has struggled - he’s appeared in just 9 games and has a 6.57 ERA while allowing hitters to slash .308/.400/.596 including a very rough outing over in San Francisco when he gave up a pair of homeruns in 1.1 innings pitched.
With the acquisition of a struggling Luke Jackson, there has been a lot of chatter about the Braves having a pair of relief arms that played similar roles and were not pitching particularly well - and it was absolutely fair. The Braves are in the middle of really tough playoff push, and have struggled with injuries that have ravaged their starting lineup.
They are needing to rely quite a bit on their starting pitching and bullpen and it’s extremely important to have the best guys on the squad to give the team the best opportunity to win. With players like Daysbel Hernandez, Domingo Gonzalez, and Hayden Harris sitting in Triple-A it might be time to say goodbye to the man that has given us so much to talk about, and focus on the future of the Braves bullpen.