Veteran right-handed pitcher Jesse Chavez has announced his retirement from Major League Baseball after 18 seasons.
He made the announcement Thursday on Foul Territory.
“All honestly, I haven’t picked up a baseball sine my last pitch in St. Louis,” Chavez said. “As of now, I don’t think we’re gonna keep going. I think this is it. Time to turn the page, focus on the next chapter in life and go help all the young kids, all the stuff that I did so they don’t have to take two steps backwards and can take those three steps forward.”
Chavez was drafted by the Rangers in the 42nd round of the 2002 MLB Draft. He debuted in 2008 with the Pirates and bounced around the league, spending time with nine teams — the Atlanta Braves, Oakland Athletics, Texas Rangers, Pittsburgh Pirates, Los Angeles Angels, Toronto Blue Jays, Chicago Cubs, Kansas City Royals and Los Angeles Dodgers — over the next 18 years.
Chavez was a part of the 2021 Braves squad that won the World Series. That year, he had a 2.14 ERA over 33.2 regular season innings, and a 0.00 ERA in seven scoreless postseason appearances.
Chavez has spent time with the Braves in each of the last four years, including this season, when he allowed eight earned runs over eight innings of work. Now, the 41-year-old is officially calling it a career.
Across 657 career appearances (85 starts), Chavez accrued a 4.27 ERA with 1,044 strikeouts over 1,142 innings pitched.
