It turns out the tentative Opening Day roster was, in fact, tentative:
Jackson Stephens has been outrighted to Gwinnett. This was the expected move to create a spot for Jesse Chavez.
— Mark Bowman (@mlbbowman) March 26, 2024
So, welcome back to the big league roster, Jesse Chavez. We hardly missed ye, after all. Chavez returns after posting 0.7 fWAR in his age-39, injury-shortened campaign that saw him generate a ridiculous 35 ERA-, 71 FIP-, and 78 xFIP-. Over his last three seasons, Chavez has averaged right around 1.4 fWAR per 65 innings while wearing a Braves uniform, which is pretty ridiculous. Also, we all love him.
Chavez had a 3.47 xFIP in Spring Training with the White Sox this year, and had a 3.40 xFIP last year, so yeah, Jesse Chavez, (one of) the ageless wonder(s).
Meanwhile, Jackson Stephens and his flexibility-enabling split contract end up serving as the roster casualty to pave the way for Chavez. Stephens did not have a particularly whelming Spring Training (3.60 FIP but 4.54 xFIP) but was kind of the default last guy in the bullpen choice when Ray Kerr went down with options-itis and Ken Giles was also jettisoned away to do whatever it is he’s gonna do for the rest of 2024, at least until Chavez became available. Stephens has a perfectly-fine-for-a-26th-man 86/90/100 line as a reliever for the Braves over the last two years, spanning 65 2⁄3 frames, and he’ll probably return to the majors at some point this season as pitching injury inevitably strikes.
