Athletics pitcher Jesse Chavez is hoping to lock down a rotation spot, according to the Bay Area News Group.
Chavez performed well in 21 starts with the club in 2014, but lost his job after the team acquired Jon Lester midseason. Chavez blames himself for the demotion. "It wasn’t a case of the job being taken away," he said. "It was a case of I didn’t hold it. I shouldn’t have put the team in a position to doubt me."
After the Athletics brought in a fair amount of pitching in the offseason, Chavez has become somewhat of an after-thought as the team's fifth starter. He believes the opportunity is there, though. "The chance to be a starter is there," Chavez said. "For me, I just approach it like last year when I was trying to just win a spot on the staff. I’m always going to pitch like I’m pitching to win a job."
Chavez, 31, posted a 3.45 ERA over 146 innings last year.