After 18 seasons, nine teams and 10 trades, right-hander Jesse Chavez is ready to hang up the spikes.
Chavez, 41, announced his retirement on Thursday during an appearance on the “Foul Territory” show. The announcement comes a week after he was designated for assignment for a third time this season by the Braves, the team for which he’s pitched the most during his career.
“In all honesty, I haven’t picked up a baseball since my last pitch in St. Louis [July 13],” Chavez said. “As of now, I don’t think we’re going to keep going. I think this is it. Time to turn the page, focus on the next chapter in life.”
Chavez, a 42nd-round MLB Draft pick by the Rangers out of Riverside (Calif.) City College in 2002, made his MLB debut with the Pirates in ’08. He was traded to the Braves after the 2009 season for the first of what would be several stints with the team. In between his first (’10) and last (’25) seasons with Atlanta, Chavez also pitched for the Royals, Blue Jays (twice), A’s, Dodgers, Angels (twice), Rangers (twice) and Cubs (twice).
Though he made 85 starts during his various stops, Chavez was mostly a reliever during his 657 appearances in the bigs. He compiled a 51-66 record and a 4.27 ERA. And though he had successful stints elsewhere — he’s believed to be the most-traded player in MLB history — Chavez seemed to take things up a notch when he suited up for the Braves. During parts of six seasons with Atlanta, he pitched to a 3.30 ERA with 228 strikeouts in 229 1/3 innings. That doesn’t even include his 0.00 ERA in seven postseason appearances during the Braves’ 2021 World Series title run.
“This has been a great ride, way more than I expect, too, from a 42nd round Draft pick,” Chavez told the “Foul Territory” crew, noting how he was always looking for ways to make adjustments so he could stick around in the Majors. “I always said I want to go out the way I came in — being able to roll out of bed and throw a baseball. And fortunately, I’m still able to do that.”
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