It is “probably” that Jesse Chavez will retire after the 2024 season.

Jesse Chavez has pitched in each of the last 16 MLB seasons, appearing in 607 games as a reliever, starter, and swingman with nine different teams.  Chavez is a free agent still looking to land his next contract, but in an interview on the “Loud Outs” show on MLB Network Radio on SiriusXM, the 40-year-old revealed that he will likely be retiring after one more season.

“This is probably going to be it.  We all talked about me going out the way I came in — being able to roll out of bed and pick up a baseball and throw it,” Chavez said.  “And that’s how I feel still.  So I feel like that’s kind of unique in a way, where we don’t get that option too many times when we can go home healthy….Like every year, we’ll probably give it all we have, and go into coaching next season.”

Chavez has had his share of injuries over his long career, including an absence of over three months last season after he was hit in the leg by a comebacker.  That lengthy IL stint limited him to 34 1/3 innings and 36 appearances for the Braves, yet Chavez had an impact with a 1.56 ERA.  Even with a 3.35 SIERA that accounts for some strand rate (81.2%) and batted-ball (.273 BABIP) fortune, Chavez still had an above-average strikeout rate, solid hard-contact numbers, and a career-best 51.7% grounder rate.

It continued what has quietly been a bit of a renaissance for Chavez in the twilight of his career, as the right-hander has a 2.81 ERA over 137 2/3 innings since Opening Day 2021.  He struggled in brief stints with the Cubs and Angels in 2022, but has otherwise been excellent in a Braves uniform, including a 2.14 ERA in 33 2/3 innings for Atlanta’s World Series championship club in 2021.