Jesse Chavez, the travlin' man!

This past off-season, righthander Jesse Chavez was a man with no team. Chavez ended the 2009 season 1-4 with a 4.01 ERA in 73 games for the Pittsburgh Pirates and was traded to the Tampa Bay Rays for Akinori Iwamura. Six weeks later, the Rays sent Chavez to the Braves in a deal for fellow reliever Rafael Soriano and suddenly Chavez had an even newer team. Despite the two trades, Chavez says that he finally feels like he has found a home in Atlanta. "It was kind of a whirlwind, to get traded twice. I was excited to come down here." Chavez packed his gear up and made his way to the Braves spring training complex where he earned a spot in the team's bullpen. "It is a great group of guys; this is a great mesh of personalities."


So far this season,(NOTE: This was written for a Score Atlanta piece that went up on the site earlier this week) Chavez and his mid-90s fastball has appeared in twelve games, allowing 19 hits in 15.1 innings of work. Chavez's strikeout to walk ratio is 5.33 to one as he has K'd 16 of the 51 batters he's faced while walking just three. Despite the big arm, Chavez realizes that pitching is just like real estate, as location is king. "You can have a good fastball, but it's nothing if it's right down the middle." At this level, hitters can turn on a 97 mph fastball if it is right down the heart of the plate. Chavez respects that aspect of major league hitters, and that is why he is "focused" on location. "My thing going in is to try and spot (the fastball) to set up everything else."


Chavez was drafted by the Cubs in 2001 and then drafted again in 2002 by the Rangers, before getting traded to Pittsburgh in 2006. He made his debut in 2008, appearing in 15 games for the Pirates at the age of 24. Last season, Chavez showed that he could really stick in the majors with 73 appearances, but he recognizes the opportunity he has in Atlanta's bullpen this season. With a Hall of Fame-caliber closer in Billy Wagner as well as former closer Takashi Saito as role models, Chavez is soaking it all up. "It's everything you'd want as a young pitcher, to work with a guy (in Wagner) with his credentials." Chavez is trying to sponge as much info as he can from Wagner, before the current Braves closer hangs it up at the end of the season. He does it by simply talking baseball with the lefty. "We talk baseball all day long. It is a fun conversation, about how to set up guys and how to get better." Wagner agrees, calling Chavez one of the impressive young arms in the Atlanta organization along with Craig Kimbrel and Jonny Venters.


Chavez is getting opportunities in the Braves pen and he is just one of the many young arms that could be a major factor in the Braves run for a postseason berth this postseason. After an off-season of two trades, it seems as though the strong-armed Chavez has a spot in the Braves pen for a while. "I think I do have a home now."