Jesse David Chavez (born August 21, 1983) is an American

professional baseball Professional baseball is organized baseball in which players are selected for their talents and are paid to play for a specific team or club system. It is played in baseball league, leagues and associated farm teams throughout the world. Mod ...

pitcher In baseball, the pitcher is the player who throws ("pitches") the baseball from the pitcher's mound toward the catcher to begin each play, with the goal of retiring a batter, who attempts to either make contact with the pitched ball or draw ...

in the

Atlanta Braves The Atlanta Braves are an American professional baseball team based in the Atlanta metropolitan area. The Braves compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) National League East, East division. The Braves ...

organization. He played

college baseball College baseball is baseball that is played on the intercollegiate level at institutions of higher education. In comparison to football and basketball, college competition in the United States plays a smaller role in developing professional pl ...

Riverside Community College Riverside City College (RCC) is a public community college in Riverside, California. The college is part of the Riverside Community College District, as well as the larger California Community Colleges System. History RCC first opened in 1916 at ...

, and was drafted by the Texas Rangers in the 42nd round of the

2002 Major League Baseball Draft The 2002 First-Year Player Draft, Major League Baseball's annual amateur draft, was held on June 4 and 5. It is featured in Michael Lewis' 2003 book '' Moneyball''. First round selections Supplemental first round compensation selections * ...

. He has also played in

Major League Baseball Major League Baseball (MLB) is a professional baseball organization and the oldest major professional sports league in the world. MLB is composed of 30 total teams, divided equally between the National League (NL) and the American League (AL), ...

(MLB) for the

Pittsburgh Pirates The Pittsburgh Pirates are an American professional baseball team based in Pittsburgh. The Pirates compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) Central division. Founded as part of the American Associati ...

Kansas City Royals The Kansas City Royals are an American professional baseball team based in Kansas City, Missouri. The Royals compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) Central division. The team was founded as an expans ...

Toronto Blue Jays The Toronto Blue Jays are a Canadian professional baseball team based in Toronto. The Blue Jays compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) East division. Since 1989, the team has played its home games ...

Oakland Athletics The Oakland Athletics (often referred to as the A's) are an American professional baseball team based in Oakland, California. The Athletics compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) West division. The te ...

Los Angeles Dodgers The Los Angeles Dodgers are an American professional baseball team based in Los Angeles. The Dodgers compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) West division. Established in 1883 in the city of Brooklyn ...

Los Angeles Angels The Los Angeles Angels are an American professional baseball team based in the Los Angeles metropolitan area. The Angels compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) West division. Since 1966, the team ha ...

, Texas Rangers, and

Chicago Cubs The Chicago Cubs are an American professional baseball team based in Chicago. The Cubs compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as part of the National League (NL) Central division. The club plays its home games at Wrigley Field, which is located ...

Amateur career

Chavez was born in

San Gabriel, California San Gabriel (Spanish for " St. Gabriel") is a city located in the San Gabriel Valley of Los Angeles County, California. At the 2010 census, the population was 39,718. San Gabriel was founded by the Spanish in 1771, when Mission San Gabriel Arc ...

. A graduate of Fontana A.B. Miller High School in

Fontana, California Fontana is a city in San Bernardino County, California. Founded by Azariel Blanchard Miller in 1913, it remained essentially rural until World War II, when entrepreneur Henry J. Kaiser built a large steel mill in the area. It is now a regional h ...

, Chavez later attended

, where he spent two seasons. During his freshman season at Riverside, Chavez went 13–2 with a 1.96 ERA and 11–5 with a 1.93 ERA for his sophomore season.

Professional career

Chavez was originally drafted in the 39th round out of high school by the

, but opted to attend college instead. Chavez was later drafted by the Texas Rangers in the

out of

. In 2006 Chavez was promoted to Triple-A

Oklahoma Oklahoma (; Choctaw language, Choctaw: ; chr, ᎣᎧᎳᎰᎹ, ''Okalahoma'' ) is a U.S. state, state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States, bordered by Texas on the south and west, Kansas on the nor ...

where he pitched one game before being traded.

Pittsburgh Pirates

The Rangers traded Chavez to the

for

Kip Wells Robert "Kip" Wells (born April 21, 1977) is an American former professional baseball pitcher. In his Major League Baseball (MLB) career, he played for the Pittsburgh Pirates, Texas Rangers, St. Louis Cardinals, Colorado Rockies, Chicago White Sox ...

on July 31, 2006. He was assigned to the Triple-A

Indianapolis Indians The Indianapolis Indians are a Minor League Baseball team of the International League (IL) and the Triple-A affiliate of the Pittsburgh Pirates. They are located in Indianapolis, Indiana, and play their home games at Victory Field, which open ...

where he pitched the rest of the season and all of 2007. Chavez appeared in 51 games for the Indians in 2007, pitching to a 3.80

earned run average In baseball statistics, earned run average (ERA) is the average of earned runs allowed by a pitcher per nine innings pitched (i.e. the traditional length of a game). It is determined by dividing the number of earned runs allowed by the number ...

(ERA), and was promoted to the majors on August 27, making his debut the same day. He had a 4.48 ERA in 82 innings pitched for the Pirates from 2008–2009.

Atlanta Braves

The Pirates traded Chavez on November 3, 2009, to the

Tampa Bay Rays The Tampa Bay Rays are an American professional baseball team based in St. Petersburg, Florida. The Rays compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) American League East, East division. Since its inception ...

in exchange for second baseman

Akinori Iwamura is a former Japanese baseball infielder, who currently is a manager for the Fukushima Red Hopes in Japan's Baseball Challenge League. He made his Major League debut with the Tampa Bay Devil Rays in 2007. He earned the nickname Aki while in M ...

. On December 10, he was traded again, to the

for

Rafael Soriano Rafael Soriano (born December 19, 1979) is a Dominican former professional baseball pitcher. He played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Seattle Mariners, Atlanta Braves, Tampa Bay Rays, New York Yankees, Washington Nationals, and Chicago ...

. He had a 5.89 ERA in 36 innings pitched for the Braves in 2010.

Kansas City Royals

On July 31, 2010, Chavez was traded to the

along with

Gregor Blanco Gregor Miguel Blanco Pedraza (born December 24, 1983) is a Venezuelan former professional baseball outfielder who played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Atlanta Braves, the Kansas City Royals, San Francisco Giants, Washington Nationals, ...

and Tim Collins for

Rick Ankiel Richard Alexander Ankiel (; born July 19, 1979) is an American former professional baseball outfielder and pitcher who played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the St. Louis Cardinals, Kansas City Royals, Atlanta Braves, Washington Nationals, Ho ...

and

Kyle Farnsworth Kyle Lynn Farnsworth (born April 14, 1976) is a former professional baseball pitcher. He has played for the Chicago Cubs (1999–2004), Detroit Tigers (2005, 2008), Atlanta Braves (2005, 2010), New York Yankees (2006–2008), Kansas City Royals (2 ...

. The Royals designated him for assignment on October 11, 2011. He had a 6.95 ERA in 33 innings pitched for the Royals from 2010–2011.

Toronto Blue Jays

On October 21, 2011, he was claimed off waivers by the Toronto Blue Jays. He was designated for assignment on December 12 but cleared waivers and was outrighted to Triple-A. On May 27, 2012, Chavez was called up from the Triple-A Las Vegas 51s. He was 6–2 with a 3.72 ERA in 10 games with Las Vegas. He was recalled on August 4. On August 5, however, he was sent back down to make room for the promotion of

Chad Jenkins Stephen Chadwick Jenkins (born December 22, 1987) is an American former professional baseball pitcher. He played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Toronto Blue Jays. Career Jenkins played high school baseball at Cherokee High School in Ge ...

from the

New Hampshire Fisher Cats The New Hampshire Fisher Cats are a Minor League Baseball team based in Manchester, New Hampshire. The team, which plays in the Eastern League, is the Double-A affiliate of the Toronto Blue Jays major league club. During the team's first seas ...

Oakland Athletics

Chavez was traded to the

on August 24, 2012, in exchange for cash considerations. Chavez began the 2013 season with the Triple-A

Sacramento River Cats The Sacramento River Cats are a Minor League Baseball team of the Pacific Coast League (PCL) and are the Triple-A affiliate of the San Francisco Giants. Prior to 2015, the River Cats were the Triple-A affiliate of the Oakland Athletics for 15 yea ...

. He was recalled by Oakland on April 20, and sent back to Sacramento on April 29. He was recalled again on May 10. On June 13, Chavez pitched 5 shutout innings of relief in an 18-inning game against the

New York Yankees The New York Yankees are an American professional baseball team based in the Boroughs of New York City, New York City borough of the Bronx. The Yankees compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) Amer ...

, earning the win. On July 31, Chavez pitched against the Blue Jays for the first time since being traded to Oakland and took the loss, yielding 3 runs in the 10th inning. Chavez was added to Oakland's starting rotation to open the 2014 season, due to the spring injuries of

Jarrod Parker Jarrod Parker (born November 24, 1988) is an American former professional baseball pitcher. He was drafted by the Arizona Diamondbacks as the 9th overall pick in the 2007 Major League Baseball Draft from Norwell High School in Ossian, Indiana. H ...

and

A.J. Griffin Arthur Joseph Griffin (born January 28, 1988) is an American former professional baseball pitcher. He played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Oakland Athletics and Texas Rangers. Early life Griffin attended Grossmont High School. He was n ...

. He set career highs in starts and innings pitched, and finished with an 8–8 record with a 3.45 ERA. On January 12, 2015, Chavez and the Athletics agreed to a one-year deal worth $2.15 million, avoiding arbitration. Chavez was placed in the bullpen to start the season. On April 23, he was moved to the rotation and ended up making 26 starts for Oakland, a career high, pitching to a 7–15 record and a 4.18 ERA. His season ended in mid-September when he was diagnosed with a non-displaced fracture in his ribs.

Toronto Blue Jays (second stint)

On November 20, 2015, the Athletics traded Chavez to the Blue Jays for

Liam Hendriks Liam Johnson Hendriks (born 10 February 1989), nicknamed "Slydah", is an Australian professional baseball pitcher for the Chicago White Sox of Major League Baseball (MLB). He previously played for the Minnesota Twins, Kansas City Royals, Toront ...

. He and the Blue Jays did not come to an agreement before the

salary arbitration Free agency in Major League Baseball (MLB) concerns players whose contracts with a team have expired and who are therefore eligible to sign with another team. Free agents may be eligible for pendulum arbitration, also called "salary arbitration" or ...

deadline on January 15, 2016. Chavez was seeking $4 million, while the Blue Jays countered at $3.6 million. On February 6, it was announced that Chavez had won his arbitration case. Chavez entered spring training in competition for the fifth starter role with Aaron Sanchez, Drew Hutchison, and

Gavin Floyd Gavin Christopher Floyd (born January 27, 1983), is an American former professional baseball pitcher, who played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Philadelphia Phillies, Chicago White Sox, Atlanta Braves, Cleveland Indians, and Toronto Blue ...

. On March 28, it was announced that Sanchez would be the team's fifth starter, and Chavez would begin the season in the bullpen. On May 17, 2016, Chavez was suspended for 3 games after he intentionally hit Texas Rangers batter

Prince Fielder Prince Semien Fielder (born May 9, 1984) is an American former professional baseball first baseman and designated hitter, who played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Milwaukee Brewers, Detroit Tigers, and Texas Rangers. He was selected i ...

on May 15 after the Blue Jays and Rangers had a bench clearing brawl in the top of the 8th that resulted in

Rougned Odor Rougned Roberto Odor () (born February 3, 1994), nicknamed "Rougie", is a Venezuelan professional baseball second baseman who is a free agent. He previously played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Texas Rangers, New York Yankees and Balt ...

punching

José Bautista José Antonio Bautista Santos (born October 19, 1980), nicknamed "Joey Bats", is a Dominican special advisor for the general manager of the Leones del Escogido and former professional baseball right fielder and third baseman. He played in Majo ...

after Bautista slid hard into Odor to break up a double play. Chavez pitched to a 1–2 record, 4.57 ERA, and 42 strikeouts in 41 innings before being traded.

Los Angeles Dodgers

On August 1, 2016, the Blue Jays traded Chavez to the

for

Mike Bolsinger Michael P. Bolsinger (born January 29, 1988) is an American former professional baseball pitcher. He played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Arizona Diamondbacks, Los Angeles Dodgers, and Toronto Blue Jays and for the Chiba Lotte Marines of ...

. He appeared in 23 games for the Dodgers with a 4.21 ERA.

Los Angeles Angels

On November 11, 2016, Chavez signed a one-year, $5.75 million contract with the

. Chavez was chosen to start in the Angels rotation at the beginning of the season due to the bevy of injuries. Chavez made 21 starts, going 5–9 with a 5.24 ERA before being put in the bullpen after the All Star Break. Chavez finished the season 7–11 in 38 games, 21 starts.

Texas Rangers

On February 23, 2018, Chavez signed a one-year contract with the Texas Rangers.

Chicago Cubs

On July 19, 2018, Chavez was acquired by the

for minor league pitcher

Tyler Thomas Tyler Thomas (born September 28, 1990) is an American football running back for the Cedar Rapids Titans of the Indoor Football League (IFL). He played college football at Bacone College and attended Jackson High School in Jackson, Michigan. He ha ...

. Chavez posted an impressive 1.15 ERA in 32 appearances with the Cubs.

Texas Rangers (second stint)

On November 30, 2018, Chavez signed a 2-year contract to return to the Texas Rangers. Chavez was placed on the

injured list In Major League Baseball (MLB), the injured list (IL) is a method for teams to remove their injured players from the roster in order to summon healthy players. Before the 2019 season, it was known as the disabled list (DL). General guidelines ...

on August 13 with elbow inflammation, which stemmed from a bone spur. He finished the 2019 season going 3–5 with a 4.85 ERA in 78 innings. Chavez underwent surgery to remove loose bodies from his elbow on September 9. The following season, Chavez struggled mightily to the tune of a 6.88 ERA in 17 innings.

Los Angeles Angels (second stint)

On February 26, 2021, Chavez signed a minor league contract with the

organization that included an invitation to spring training. On March 26, 2021, Chavez was released by the Angels.

Atlanta Braves (second stint)

On April 17, 2021, Chavez signed a minor league contract with the

organization. On June 24, Chavez was selected to the active roster. In 2021 he was 3-2 with a 2.14 ERA in 30 games (4 starts) in which he pitched 33.2 innings. In the 2021 postseason, Chavez made 7 appearances for the Braves, including starting Game 4 of the NLCS, and did not surrender any runs.

Chicago Cubs (second stint)

On March 13, 2022, Chavez signed a minor league split contract with the

. On April 2, 2022, the Cubs selected the contract of Chavez.

Atlanta Braves (third stint)

On April 20, 2022, Chavez plus cash considerations were traded to the

for

Sean Newcomb Sean, also spelled Seán or Séan in Irish English, is a male given name of Irish language, Irish origin. It comes from the Irish versions of the Biblical Hebrew name ''Yohanan'' (), Seán (Anglicisation of names, anglicized as ''Shaun/Shawn (giv ...

Los Angeles Angels (third stint)

On August 2, 2022, Chavez and Tucker Davidson were traded from the Braves to the

for Raisel Iglesias. During the 2022 season, Chavez set the record for most trades in a Major League Baseball career, with ten. On August 29, Chavez was released by the Angels. In 11 games, Chavez posted a 7.59 ERA.

Atlanta Braves (fourth stint)

On August 30, 2022, Chavez was claimed off waivers by the Atlanta Braves. On November 12, Chavez signed a 1-year minor league contract with the Braves.

Personal life

Chavez and his wife, Crystal, have three children together.

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Chavez, Jesse 1983 births Living people American baseball players of Mexican descent American expatriate baseball players in Canada Atlanta Braves players Bakersfield Blaze players Baseball players from California Chicago Cubs players Clinton LumberKings players Frisco RoughRiders players Gigantes del Cibao players American expatriate baseball players in the Dominican Republic Grand Canyon Rafters players Gwinnett Stripers players Indianapolis Indians players Kansas City Royals players Las Vegas 51s players Los Angeles Dodgers players Los Angeles Angels players Major League Baseball pitchers Oakland Athletics players Oklahoma RedHawks players Omaha Storm Chasers players People from San Gabriel, California Phoenix Desert Dogs players Pittsburgh Pirates players Riverside City Tigers baseball players Sacramento River Cats players Spokane Indians players Texas Rangers players Tomateros de Culiacán players American expatriate baseball players in Mexico Toronto Blue Jays players People from Victorville, California Anchorage Glacier Pilots players