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Braves Bring Back Veteran Pitcher on Minor League Contract: Report

The Atlanta Braves made an unsurprising move to potentially bolster their bullpen ahead of 2025 MLB Opening Day.

Dave Holcomb

Atlanta Braves pitcher Jesse Chavez
Atlanta Braves pitcher Jesse Chavez / Denis Poroy-Imagn Images
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He's back ... again.

The Athletic's David O'Brien reported Sunday the Atlanta Braves have signed veteran relief pitcher Jesse Chavez to a minor league contract. Chavez has pitched for the Braves four other times in his 17-year career.

The Braves are bringing back Chavez a day after the Texas Rangers released him.

The AJC's Justin Toscano reported Chavez will be at Braves training camp on Sunday. MLB.com's Mark Bowman tweeted the Braves will evaluate the right-hander "to determine If he's a fit" for the Opening Day roster.

Atlanta has done a lot of shuffling in its bullpen over the last week. Bowman suggested the Braves could decide between beginning the season with Chavez or one of the organization's top pitching prospects, A.J. Smith Shawver on the MLB roster.

If the Braves feature Chavez on the roster, he will serve as the team's long reliever.

This will be the fifth time Chavez pitches for the Braves organization. The right-hander played for Atlanta in 2010 and then returned to the team 11 years later after pitching for the Kansas City Royals, Toronto Blue Jays, Oakland Athletics, Los Angeles Dodgers, Los Angeles Angels, Chicago Cubs and Texas Rangers. During that time, he spent two separate stints with both the Cubs and Rangers.

After the 2021 World Series, Chavez returned to the Cubs to begin 2022 only to find his way back to the Braves by the end of April.

On Aug. 2, 2022, the Braves traded Chavez to the Angels as part of a deal for closer Raisel Iglesias. The Angels released Chavez about four weeks after the trade. The Braves then claimed Chavez off waivers a day later, which began his fourth stint in Atlanta.

Since returning to the Braves a fourth time, Chavez has been a very dependable middle reliever. In 2023, he posted a career-low 1.56 ERA with a 1.096 WHIP and 39 strikeouts in 34.2 innings over 36 appearances.

Last season, Chavez started extremely well, causing a lot of his teammates and Braves fans to nominate him for the NL All-Star team. Chavez finished 2024 with a 2-2 record, 3.13 ERA, 1.247 WHIP and 55 strikeouts in 63.1 innings over 46 games.

Pundits and fans often identify the definition of "stints" differently. That makes it difficult to know the record for most stints with one team in MLB history.

But five may tie an MLB record.

Chavez has also pitched for the Pittsburgh Pirates in his career. The right-hander spent two years with Pittsburgh from 2008-09 before his first stint in Atlanta.

Chavez is 51-65 with a 4.24 ERA in his MLB career. He's also registered a 1.325 WHIP and 8.2 strikeouts per nine innings rate in 1,134 career innings across 653 appearances.

The right-hander has won one World Series. That was with the Braves in 2021.

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Dave Holcomb
DAVE HOLCOMB