It has been a long journey for Oakland Athletics’ starter Jesse Chavez throughout his baseball career. Chavez has been with six different organizations over seven years in the MLB, but he has finally found a more permanent position with the Athletics. Formally a long reliever, Chavez did not actually begin 2015 in the starting rotation, but he has since been promoted and has been a starter since late April.
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However, 2015 was not the first time Chavez took on the challenges that comes with being a starting pitcher. Chavez initially earned a spot in Oakland’s starting rotation in 2014 due Jarrod Parker‘s and A.J. Griffin‘s season-ending injuries. However, he was bumped back to the bullpen after a blockbuster deal was completed that brought ace Jon Lester to Oakland on the last day of the trade deadline. Come spring training in 2015, Chavez and Drew Pomeranz were vying for the one open spot in the rotation. Pomeranz ultimately earned the position. But, when Jesse Hahn had to miss a start and when Kendall Graveman was sent down to Triple-A to work out some kinks, Chavez got the open slot.
Unfortunately, Chavez just does not have the power or stamina to last in the starting pitcher role. He played the long reliever role for a long time throughout his career and only pitched an average of about 50 innings per season up until 2014. Even though it is great that the Athletics have given him the opportunity to become a starting pitcher, Chavez ultimately begins to fade as the season drags on.
This was first seen in 2014. April started off well and Chavez had a 1.89 ERA with 41 strikeouts over 38 innings pitched. But, in July, Chavez only lasted six innings one time out of five starts and he gave up 16 earned runs which netted him a 5.20 ERA for that month.
Even though he did pack on some muscle and put in a little extra training time during the offseason in order to prepare for the starting pitcher job, Chavez seems to be fading once again mid-season. In his last seven starts, he has only lasted till the seventh inning twice. He has allowed 20 earned runs throughout June and his first two July starts and his ERA has risen from a 2.11 at the end of May to a 3.40 after today’s day game against the New York Yankees.
Hopefully Chavez will be able to shake off this funk. He is still about 45 innings away from reaching his career high of innings pitched in one season. He pitched 146 innings in 2014. Maybe Chavez still has a little bit of extra juice in the tank and will be able to pull out a few more quality starts.
However, if Chavez has aspirations of being a full season starter, it unfortunately is not very likely. Chavez would have to pitch upwards for 190 innings if he were in the starting rotation for the entire year. With his slight frame, lack of appropriate experience as a starter and current age, it is just not feasible for him to stay in the rotation and make a quality start once every five days throughout a 162-game season. The Oakland Athletics are better off having a true starter in the rotation and keeping Chavez as the designated long reliever in the bullpen.
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