ATLANTA, Ga. (Atlanta News First) – Former Atlanta Braves reliever Jesse Chavez is calling it a career, he announced Thursday on the Foul Territory podcast.
Chavez’s retirement marks the end of a career defined by movement. He was shipped off 11 times during his career, the most of any player in MLB history.
“I think this is it,” he said on the show. “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 take those three steps forward.”
Affectionally called “Uncle Jesse,” Chavez, 41, spent parts of six seasons with the Braves, spanning from 2010 to 2025. He appeared in four games this season, pitching just eight innings.
He was an integral part of the Braves’ 2021 World Series run, pitching to the tune of a 2.14 ERA in the regular season and not allowing a run in the playoffs. Over 229.1 innings in a Braves uniform, he pitched to a 3.30 ERA and a 127 ERA+, worth 3.4 WAR.
On the podcast, Chavez elucidated his goals for a coaching career.
“All the conversations I’ve had this year, last year, and the last few years as well, I’ve felt they were in the coaching capacity. Now, it’s finally time,” Chavez said. “I got the itch out of my system, got all the throws out of the system that I need to get out, so that way I’m not looking at a TV and biting my fingernails.
“I feel like now it’s time to be like, ‘Alright, let’s write some things down and get moving forward with what we want to get accomplished now.’ That’s help kids get their tenure and eventually hold up some hardware, whether it’s a Cy Young, whether it’s a Reliever of the Year award, whatever the case may be, and then eventually hold up another trophy as a coach. I feel like I’m capable and well aware enough to do that for them.”