The Oakland A’s are off to another solid start and a big reason why has been the play of Jesse Chavez.
Analysis: Jesse Chavez is thirty years old and has never pitched more than seventy innings in one season in the bigs. Through three starts this year Chavez is sporting a 1.35 ERA, 0.85 WHIP and 22 strikeouts in 20.0 innings. He also has a 2.30 xFIP and an 11.0 K/BB ratio.
Who knows how well he will hold up as he goes deeper into the season but we cannot ignore his effectiveness early on. Chavez pitched 57.1 innings for the A’s last year in a relief role and had a 3.93 ERA and 3.83 xFIP to show for it. His cutter has been an absolute revelation since joining the A’s and he now has his one plus pitch to go along with his great command of the other three.
Currently, Jesse Chavez is available in 30-75% of fantasy leagues. He isn’t going to get the “wire hype” like teammate Scott Kazmir or even Tim Hudson(SF) but Chavez has been unhittable through 20 innings thus far this season.