Even by the standards of the frenzied and ever-moving professional baseball, Jesse Chavez has a very high tolerance for being told to move. I know what to do, how to tell my wife, what questions to ask.
But this season has been a lot. for him too.
This year, his career trade count has increased from 8 to 10. This is the difference between the average journeyman and the most traded player in modern baseball history. This record, though impressive in its own right, isn’t exactly so. It’s the kind of thing everyone dreams of in Little League. But the rescuer tramples it all. After signing with cubs In March he braves He returned to the team in April and won a World Series ring in 2021.The Braves then made him angel On Deadline as part of a package to get closer to Raisel Iglesias. However, after an eventful few weeks in Anaheim, the relief pitcher he was released on August 29. And he couldn’t have been happier with the team that picked him off the waivers on his Aug. 30: Chavez is back with the Braves.
This is his fourth stint in Atlanta. The first deal predated him for over a decade and lasted just a few months in 2010. Tampa Baythe second time he spent a full season in town on a one-year deal in 2011, and the third and fourth time this year. There are places where he recorded more innings: Oakland, Anaheim, Texas. However, there is no place where he has returned many times. And he was especially excited to now have the opportunity to do so.
“This is where my soul rests,” says Chavez, 39.
It’s a concept that someone else might describe as “home.” But home is complicated for Chavez. He’s originally from California, and they’ve spent their entire adult lives, as has his wife, Krystal. He would settle for an organization where he could make an impact through bullpens, pitching and pep talks, etc. And he knows he can do all of that in Atlanta.
“It’s the first time I’ve been able to come back this season and I feel like I’m back where I am,” Chavez says. So you live with the part.
Chavez has been comfortable with the Braves since his first stint with the team. The then 26-year-old was unsure if he was destined to be a closer or work in midfield relief, and he had already been traded three times. Chavez was only in the clubhouse for a few months. (He was traded to Atlanta in his December and shipped again in July.) But he really felt like he was one of the first places to find support and structure. In the years that followed, from league to league, Chavez fondly remembered his time in Atlanta, and he hoped to return one day. He was particularly impressed with the team’s veteran leadership. The first name he mentioned was Billy He Wagner, but on that roster he also had Derek Lowe, 37, and Chipper, his 38-year-old Jones. Now that veteran role is his, and he’s embracing it.
His fellow relievers even refer to him as a “coach.”This started as a joke that each pitcher should be their own coach, but if any of them really was One was Chavez. His time in the game gave him perspective. In his 42⅔ innings at Atlanta this year, his earned run average was his 1.90, he was adept at adapting to survive with age, and the league changed around him. But much of that perspective comes from the part of the game that takes place off the mound. Chavez said he went through a stretch when he felt like he did everything wrong, he went through a stretch when he did everything right, yet Everything seems to have gone wrong. He wonders how the organization views him or how long the organization will need him. But they also resonate for a man who has spent his entire career in one place.
“Sometimes performance isn’t an issue. Sometimes it’s just an aspect of the business,” says Chavez. “It can do some things mentally, it can knock you down a little bit and it can take months, maybe a year, maybe a year and a half to get back. You can make your own path.”
It’s part of the wisdom he was imparting to the Braves’ young players as a coach. (“It was like being sent to jail in no time,” he jokes.) I don’t know if there are. (Again, he’s 39.) But he’s glad he had the chance to do it at least one more time.
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