On the second-to-last day of camp, the Atlanta Braves announced the signing of Jesse Chavez to a minor-league deal with an invite to big-league spring training. Chavez was released by the Chicago White Sox on Saturday.

The Braves only have two days left in camp but they are familiar with Chavez, who returns for his fifth stint with the club. He pitched for Atlanta in 2010, 2021, 2022, and 2023 and his signing brings the total of players in spring training to 29 but two of them (Penn Murfee and Angel Perdomo) are rehabbing after Tommy John.

He’s back! #JesseChavez gets a little choked up when asked about his love for #Braves Country. pic.twitter.com/vFs10NUpqX

— David Carroll (@DAVIDCARROLL3) March 25, 2024

The Braves have two open spots on the 40-man roster and could open up more if they move injured players like Ian Anderson to the 60-day injured list. However, because they brought Chavez in on a minor-league deal, they could “reassign” him to minor-league camp and he could begin the season in the minors if he doesn’t break camp with the big-league club.

Chavez has been excellent with the Braves in each of his last three seasons. Although, he did have a rough spring with the White Sox. In seven innings, he was lit up for 10 runs (nine earned), 12 hits, and two walks with eight strikeouts which left him with an ERA of 11.57.

Chavez met with reporters on Monday and said his wife and kids “knew” he would return to Atlanta.

“They were excited,” said Chavez. “They were happy. They said they knew it. What they knew was the fact that they wanted me to be comfortable in a spot where if this was the last year, this would be the place I wanted to do it at.”

According to the Atlanta Journal-Constitution’s Justin Toscano, Chavez has a 2.14 ERA over 123 1/3 innings while wearing a Braves uniform including 2021. Since the start of 2019, Chavez has posted a 6.97 ERA over 111 1/3 innings while pitching for other teams.

Last season appeared to be one of the better ones for Chavez who had a 1.56 ERA over 34 2/3 innings before suffering a microfracture in his left shin after getting hit by a comebacker. He didn’t recover and failed to make the postseason roster.

Even if he begins the year in Triple-A, Chavez will most likely be the first call-up when an injury happens to the bullpen. He doesn’t have much time to prove himself worthy of a big league roster sport with camp breaking tomorrow but history is on his side.