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The Atlanta Braves are calling up veteran right-handed relief pitcher Jesse Chavez, ESPN’s Jeff Passan reported.
The Braves have a full 40-man roster, so the team will designate Hector Neris for assignment as a corresponding move, per Mark Bowman of MLB.com.
It’s been a rough start for the Braves, to say the least. At 0-4 entering play on Monday, Atlanta is the only four-loss team in the Majors so far. The Minnesota Twins, Detroit Tigers and Milwaukee Brewers (all 0-3) are the other teams searching for their first win.
Only four games into the season, it’s hardly time to panic for the Braves, even if they did go scoreless over the final 22 innings of their opening series against the San Diego Padres. But it’d also be foolish to not address an area of need. Atlanta has the seventh-worst bullpen ERA in the league (6.75). Neris, for his part, has made two appearances this year, giving up five earned runs in one total inning pitched. That included an Opening Day disaster in which he failed to record an out, giving up three runs, three hits and a home run.
Chavez, now 41 years old, last pitched for the big league club in the 2024 postseason, throwing two clean innings against the Padres in the Wild Card series. During the regular season, he made 46 appearances, pitching to a 3.13 ERA and 1.247 WHIP in 63.1 innings.
Fan favorite Jesse Chavez keeps ending up with the Braves
The Braves have three games left on their season-opening west coast road swing, which now takes them to Los Angeles to face the defending World Series champion Dodgers. When they finally make their home debut on Friday against the Miami Marlins, fans will be able to cheer for a fan favorite during the pregame introductions.
Chavez is entering his 18th season in the Majors and his fifth consecutive with the Braves. Over those five seasons, the Braves have traded him only to select him off waivers a month later, the Chicago Cubs have also traded him to Atlanta, and he’s signed with other teams in free agency only to end up back in the Braves’ organization on several occasions.
This isn’t Chavez’s first stretch with Atlanta, either. He appeared in 28 games for the Braves in 2010 before he began bouncing around the American League. That brief stretch with Atlanta, however, means that every Braves team since 1963 will have had at least one player on the roster to be managed by Bobby Cox. Cox led the Braves from 1978 to 1981 and again from 1990 to 2010.
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Pirates return Roberto Clemente tribute following fan backlash
The right field wall at PNC Park, home of the Pittsburgh Pirates, stands 21 feet tall as a tribute to Roberto Clemente (who wore No. 21 throughout his career), one of the greatest players and humanitarians the sport of baseball has ever seen. Over the past couple of years that wall had a tribute to Clemente on a big section of padding down the right field line. It was pointed out at the team's first home series of the season that the tribute had been replaced by an advertisement, drawing the ire of both Pirates fans and the son of Clemente, Roberto Clemente Jr. After some brutal PR for 24 hours, the Pirates made a statement on Sunday announcing they will be returning the Roberto Clemente tribute and that removing it was simply an oversight, and not at all intentional. Roberto Clemente spent his entire playing career with the Pirates and was one of the greatest defensive right fielders of all time. He also collected exactly 3,000 hits and won four batting titles, the 1966 National League MVP Award and two World Series (1960 and 1971). He was tragically killed in a plane crash in 1972 just off the coast of Puerto Rico while trying to help deliver supplies to Nicaragua following an earthquake. On one hand, the Pirates have a significant tribute to Roberto Clemente both in and around PNC Park. Not only is there a statue right outside of the left field entrance gate to the stadium, but the bridge that connects downtown to the North Shore of the city — and the stadium itself — is named after Roberto Clemente. His number is retired and his presence is felt at every turn inside of the stadium. On the other hand, taking down even one of those tributes to replace it with an advertisement for a spiked lemonade/iced tea drink is not going to get a warm reception from fans. Especially when it is on the wall that was built to honor him behind the position he played and mastered. And especially when fan anger with the organization is already at a boiling point this season. The team is off to a terrible start, did nothing to improve over the offseason and has had just six winning seasons over the past 35 years. The organization is not going to get any benefit of the doubt from anybody, and this is just another reminder of that. It is also another reminder that no team seems to go out of its way to make more unforced errors than the Pirates. Both on the field and off of it.
Bad Sign: UNC Basketball Freshman Looks to Depart Program
Over the past two weeks, UNC basketball anxiously awaited the decisions of star freshmen Drake Powell and Ian Jackson. Coming into the year, many assumed both could be one-and-done prospects for the Tar Heels but, at the same time, hoped for their returns. Much of the discussion around the future of both players had been pushed to the backburner as head coach Hubert Davis and staff made contacts with players in the portal, assuming both Powell and Jackson were weighing their professional future, not their college of choice. That ended up being a wrong assumption, at least for one of them. On Monday afternoon, On3’s Pete Nakos reported that Ian Jackson has indeed entered the transfer portal, not the NBA Draft. This decision may come as a huge surprise to UNC basketball faithful and general fans of college hoops, as there was no prior indication that Jackson would want to continue his career elsewhere if he did to college return for a sophomore season. But the 6-foot-4, 190-pound bucket-getter is now looking elsewhere, as he almost certainly becomes one of the most coveted players on the market. He averaged 11.9 points, 2.7 rebounds, and 0.9 assists in his lone season in Chapel Hill, also connecting on 39.5 percent of his 3-point attempts. Davis and the UNC basketball recruiters will now have an even bigger hole to fill in the backcourt, as the Tar Heels must also replace Elliot Cadeau and RJ Davis. With the inclusion of Jackson in that group, time will be ticking for the Tar Heels to snag some guard reinforcements from the transfer portal.
Kim Mulkey, LSU Receive Major Transfer Portal News After NCAA Tournament Loss
Insider expects Travis Hunter to land with this AFC team
The dots keep connecting Colorado wide receiver/cornerback Travis Hunter to an AFC team before the first round of the 2025 NFL Draft on April 24. On a Monday episode of his podcast, ESPN's Adam Schefter said he believed the Cleveland Browns would select a quarterback with pick No. 2 but have since shifted toward Hunter (6-foot, 188 pounds). "That's the thing with the draft, it's a moving target," Schefter said. "The latest intel now that I believe is Travis Hunter is the more likely pick at No. 2." Vegas agrees with Schefter. As of Monday, FanDuel Sportsbook gives Hunter the best odds (-250) to go second overall. The Browns should still upgrade their QB room. Starting QB Deshaun Watson is expected to miss most of the season after tearing his Achilles for a second time in January. In March, the Browns acquired Kenny Pickett in a trade with the Philadelphia Eagles. However, he has posted a below-average 79.3 passer rating in three seasons with Philadelphia and the Pittsburgh Steelers. While the Browns have a glaring need at the most important position, why wouldn't they want Hunter after watching his pro day on Friday? "They saw somebody who can move like nobody else," Schefter said. "I think that going into [pro day], they viewed him as somebody they can play at wide receiver and sprinkle at defensive back. So I think he could play two ways for them, but I think they may think of him more as a receiver than a cornerback." Hunter should become a difference-maker in the NFL, whether he plays wideout or corner full-time. In 2024, he won the Heisman Trophy after catching 15 touchdown passes and intercepting four in 13 games. The Browns could still take a QB in the second round, perhaps Louisville's Tyler Shough (6-foot-5, 219 pounds). He tossed 23 touchdown passes in 12 games in 2024. The Browns haven't had many hits in the draft since the franchise was revived in 1999. If they select Hunter, that may be one of their biggest.
Steelers' 19-Year-Old Trade Tree Is Still Alive
The Pittsburgh Steelers did not make too many trades in the Kevin Colbert era. He was one of the more conservative general managers of his time. The 2019 year was the only one when he really went super aggressive, and that was greatly influenced by his eventual replacement, Omar Khan. Most of Colbert's deals involved giving up or receiving day three draft picks in under-the-radar deals. However, he had one trade early in his tenure that is still having an effect on Pittsburgh to this very day. After the Steelers won Super Bowl XL, Colbert made a draft-day trade to try and win another. He moved up from the 32nd pick to the 25th to draft wide receiver Santonio Holmes, giving up a third- and fourth-round pick in that same draft to get it done. The only player involved in the deal that they really missed out on was Mathias Kiwanuka, who had a productive career with the New York Giants. Holmes would go on to win Super Bowl XLIII MVP after a great performance capped off by a legendary game-winning catch in the corner of the end zone. Even though he did not spend a lot of time in Pittsburgh, he will always be one of the greats because of his involvement in securing championship number six. It can be argued that his is the greatest catch in Super Bowl history. However, the Steelers were quick to trade Holmes away after he got suspended for "substance abuse." He was shipped off for merely a fifth-round pick in 2010. The Steelers would flip that pick to the Arizona Cardinals in exchange for a sixth-round pick and the return of Bryant McFadden. That sixth-round pick was used to select the greatest wide receiver of his generation: Antonio Brown. Brown needs no introduction. He quickly made his way up the depth chart thanks to amazing catches and expert-level route running. He was one of the many reasons why the mid-2010s Steelers had one of the best offensive teams in franchise history. His antics grew along with his stat sheet, and that led to him being traded away in 2018 for more than the organization got via the previous deal. He was traded away in exchange for a third- and fifth-round pick. The former of the two selections was used to draft Diontae Johnson, another expert at running routes. He and Brown were in rare company of wideouts that received a second contract with the team. However, it wasn't all sunshine and rainbows for Johnson, either. Steelers Continued With The Same Trade Tree In 2024 Johnson was also a malcontent, which resulted in him getting traded in 2024 in exchange for Donte Jackson and a late-round pick swap. Johnson's issues became more apparent has he was traded away for another swap of day three selections. This was also Khan's first entry into this prolific trade tree. Jackson spent one year in Pittsburgh, where he became a turnover machine and a quality cornerback option. However, injuries kept holding him back, which forced the Steelers to let him walk in free agency. With the sixth-rounder Pittsburgh received in the Johnson deal, the team selected Logan Lee. He missed all of his rookie season due to injury. He may be a backup fighting for a roster spot, but he is the last remaining piece of the trade on the Steelers' end of things. However, the tree continues elsewhere. Throughout this timeline, the Steelers had one prolific wideout lead the team to a Super Bowl victory, another amazing receiver getting Pittsburgh into another one thanks to a ridiculous helmet catch to cap off a playoff comeback, and two other quality players that helped the Steelers fill a need. Holmes' time in Pittsburgh may have been short-lived, but the cause-and-effect of Colbert trading up for him is still felt to this day. Johnson was traded from the Carolina Panthers to the Baltimore Ravens shortly after he arrived in Carolina. A fifth- and sixth-round pick were exchanged in the deal, which will be used in 2025. Who knows if those picks will be used on quality contributors or not, but for now, the Holmes trade tree will grow a couple more branches before all is said and done.
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