The Braves announced this morning that they’ve selected right-hander Jesse Chavez to the big league roster. Left-hander Dylan Dodd was optioned to Triple-A to make room for Chavez on the big league roster, while Spencer Schwellenbach was transferred to the 60-day injured list to create 40-man roster spot for Chavez.
Chavez, 41, has made two appearances for the Braves already this year that saw him surrender two runs in three innings of work. He’s been something of an up-and-down depth arm for Atlanta this year, signing minor league deals with the Braves and getting called up to the roster for a day or two before being designated for assignment, electing free agency, and re-signing with Atlanta on a fresh minor league deal. It seems to be a situation both sides are comfortable with, and it’s fairly easy to see why. Chavez has spent more time with the Braves than any other organization in his 18-year MLB career, and he’s had great success with a 3.13 ERA in 224 1/3 innings of work during his time in Atlanta.
Now in his early forties, it’s hard to imagine Chavez being quite as dominant as he was for Atlanta earlier in his mid-thirties. With that being said, he’s remained excellent at Triple-A this year with a 2.05 ERA in 30 2/3 innings of work. It’s certainly possible he still has something left in the tank and can be successful in the majors. With that being said, it could be difficult for Chavez to hold onto a roster spot over the longer term given how dominant the few optionable relievers like Dylan Lee and Daysbel Hernandez have been this season.
Making room for Chavez on the active roster is Dodd, who made his big league debut as a starter back in 2023. He struggled mightily in that role across seven starts, but has reconfigured himself into a reliever this season to solid results. In the majors, Dodd sports a 3.75 ERA across 12 innings of work with a 20% strikeout rate against a walk rate of just 4.4%. His work at Triple-A has been less impressive, as he’s pitched to a 5.40 ERA in 19 appearances at the level, but if Dodd can maintain even league average production his ability to pitch multiple innings and status as a lefty pitcher should make him a very useful depth arm for the Atlanta bullpen going forward.
As for Schwellenbach, the news of his placement on the 60-day injured list is hardly a surprise. The right-hander was shelved with an elbow fracture this past week. Now that he’s been transferred, Schwellenbach is officially ineligible to return until August 31, though that’s very unlikely to be a meaningful obstacle given that even the most optimistic expectations have him returning at some point in September. The righty has been a phenomenal asset for the Braves since he was promoted to the majors last year, with a 3.23 ERA and 3.25 FIP in 38 career starts.
Finally!
As I mentioned before, Jesse Chavez is baseballs Chuck Norris. Therefore, let’s be honest, Jesse Chavez called himself up.
How many times do we recycle this mediocre reliever? Mercy
They probably just want him because he looks menacing
Most menacing goggles since Horace Grant.
Rishi, I would go with Chris Sabo.
Except with Sabo’s goggles and crew cut combination he looked more like one of 1950’s Biff Tannen’s friends from Back to the Future than he did “menacing”
Bullpen game yesterday. Chavez can go multiple innings. Don’t see what’s so bad about him for depth. Most of the times we recycled this “mediocre” reliever over the years it paid off btw. What’s more he’s likely been a helpful vet to have around in AAA (could even end up with a gig there eventually for all we know).
Last two seasons he had 98 innings of 2.57 ERA ball. He has a 2.05 in AAA this year. Not what I’d call mediocre….
I agree with Rishi and Ted. If he doesn’t produce they can always release him.
It’s the greatest love story of all time! AA❤️JC
Love Stinks.
He’s like the old wrestler taking TV time away from young talent.
Not exactly brimming with young talent in the minors. He’s been good this year in AAA. It’s likely for a day or two anyway.
Maybe young talent hasn’t earned a call up yet. No entitlements.
All is right with the baseball world yet again.
At least Snitker finally benched Ozuna and will be going with Murphy catching and Baldwin at DH today. This is what should have happened back in June when Ozuna said he had a tear in his hip.
Hindsight is 20/20. He said he was okay and he was (most of the time) running as if he was fine. So until he had that terrible month there was really no taking your (usually) best hitter out of the lineup. Players play with things like that at times. It’s a small tear. I didn’t hear anything. I assume he’s just taking some time off. He had been talking to a trainer a lot during a recent game. Idk. I haven’t been watching. They lost my interest fully when they lost that series to the Angels.
Dodd will be right back up btw. It’s the same thing they did to Dylan Lee before. He got sent down because he just pitched and he still has the options. I only saw him pitch twice but I was amazed how much better he looked than as a starter. He had no shot starting.
They turned him into a 2 pitch reliever at Gwinnett. Fb, cutter. Pretty much dropped his slider, no more nibbling at corners for low strikes.
Methuselah is back!!
Season saved.
Darn it….this means his DFA is only a day away.
Don’t forget his re-signing to a minor league deal. Guessing 3 days away.
Hey Jesse!!!Long time,no see!!
Only to be DFA’D tonight.
Now behind the Marlins and in danger of falling behind the Nats is a colossal embarrassment and they should all hang their heads in shame
Football season can’t start soon enough….We all knew this was a ‘reset year’ even tho AA would never admit it, but I didn’t imagine they’d be this bad.
Dude.
I wonder if they just put his jersey on a back shelf each time they release him and pull it back out when he returns.
(Hey Alex Anthopoulos! We love the Jesse Chavez articles!)
Is this stint number 15 or 16 for Jesse with the Braves
Though changing hitting coaches usually is not so dire, I think Kevin Seitzer did have a pretty decent size impact. He at least had them inside-outing the ball and shortening up on certain pitch counts. We switch and next year the team looks like crap can not be just a coincidence. Wash leaving the team probably hurt, its good to have a positive coach to encourage.
Time to can hitting coach Tim Hyers.
There is too much talent on this team for it to be hitting this badly.
Maybe he’s part of the cause, maybe not, but either way, something has to change.
Death, taxes, and Jesse Chavez getting selected to pitch for the Braves
It’s been too long since last seeing this headline.