On Saturday, Jesse Chavez sent a wave of excitement through the Braves’ fan base with a post on Instagram.
“As I look down and think about the past season, I’m mostly thinking forward to next season,” Chavez wrote as a caption. “See you in spring #bravescountry.”
The picture he used was one of him in a Braves uniform. He tagged the Braves in the post.
He broke his own news without officially saying it.
The Braves signed the 39-year-old Chavez to a minor-league deal that will pay him $1.2 million if he’s in the major leagues, a person with knowledge of the situation confirmed to The Atlanta Journal-Constitution. Chavez will return to a place where he’s done his best work recently.
Chavez should have an opportunity to make the opening-day bullpen. One reason he’s valuable is because he can execute a variety of roles, from being an opener to putting out a fire to pitching in extra innings. He does it all.
If you follow the Braves, you know Chavez’s situation is one of baseball’s most fascinating stories. He has performed his best – by far – in a Braves uniform over the last two seasons. He has gone elsewhere and has struggled. But every time he puts on an Atlanta cap and uniform, he becomes a reliable big-league reliever.
Since 2019, Chavez has pitched for the Rangers (2019 and 2020), Braves (parts of 2021 and 2022), Cubs (a part of 2022) and Angels (a part of 2022). With the Rangers, Cubs and Angels over that span, Chavez posted an ERA around 8.56 over 111 ⅓ innings.
With the Braves?
A 2.43 ERA over 86 ⅔ innings since the start of 2021.
“I would say comfortability has 100% to do with it,” Chavez said in an interview with the AJC last season. “It has nothing to do with being complacent and saying, ‘Oh, I’m here, it’s always going to work.’ No, it’s not. We’re always nose at the grindstone, we’re always talking about it. But I just think that (comfortability) helps out with what we want to get accomplished, with where I’m at in my career.
“I always say you either got baseball lifers or baseball people – baseball people want to help you (be) the best, baseball lifers just think it’s a country club. That’s how I look at it now, and we got baseball people here (with the Braves).”
Chavez signed with the Cubs in the spring, but the Braves acquired him for Sean Newcomb – whom they had designated for assignment – and cash in April. Minutes before the August trade deadline, the Braves dealt Chavez as part of a trade that brought Raisel Iglesias to Atlanta. Not long after, the Braves claimed Chavez off waivers from the Angels.
The Braves have multiple free agents from last season’s bullpen, including Kenley Jansen and Luke Jackson.
And until now, that group included Chavez, who is back once again.
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