Chafin putting together another strong season

WASHINGTON, D.C. — Andrew Chafin continues to put together another solid season in his 12th year in Major League Baseball. The 2008 Western Reserve graduate has made 22 appearances this season as a left-handed reliever for the Washington Nationals. Chafin does not have a decision yet but has a 2.76 earned run average with 16 strikeouts and 11 walks in 16 innings of work. Chafin has allowed five earned runs on 15 hits. On June 11, Chafin went on the injured list with a right hamstring strain. In his five appearances this month since being activated from the IL, Chafin has a 1.93 ERA in 4 2/3 innings. Chafin, who has appeared in more than 600 games in the MLB, saw his career take another interesting turn this season. At the trade deadline last season, scuffling Detroit traded him to the Texas Rangers for two pitching prospects. However, the Rangers struggled to the finish line while the Tigers made a surprise run to the American League Division Series, where they fell in five games to the Cleveland Guardians. Unsigned as teams opened training camp this February, Chafin returned to the Tigers on a minor league contract with an invite to spring training on Feb. 24. He opened the season at Triple-A Toledo, but asked for and was granted his release on April 30 a 2-0 record and a 2.13 ERA in 13 games for the Mudhens. The next day, Chafin signed with the Nationals on May 1. His first two appearances were against his home state Cincinnati Reds and Cleveland Guardians on May 3 and May 6, respectively. Like he has for the past five years, Chafin could still emerge as a popular trade candidate if he continues to pitch well for the last-place Nationals (38-58). In 2024, Chafin was 3-2 with a 3.16 ERA in 41 games with the Tigers prior to the trade to Texas. He went 1-1 with a 4.19 ERA in 21 appearances with the Rangers. Chafin also appeared for two teams in 2023, starting with a second stint with the Arizona Diamondbacks, who drafted him in 2011. In 43 appearances for Arizona, he was 2-3 with a 4.19 ERA prior to being traded to the Milwaukee Brewers in another trade deadline transaction. For Milwaukee, Chafin was 1-1 with a 5.82 ERA in 20 games. Chafin posted a 2.83 ERA with 67 strikeouts in 57 1/3 innings over 64 appearances for Detroit in 2022. He had signed with Detroit the first time after an impressive 2021 season for both the Chicago Cubs and the Oakland Athletics. He finished 2021 with a 2-4 mark and a 1.83 ERA in 73 appearances, which included 43 for the Cubs and 28 for the A's. Arizona moved Chafin during the 2020 season after six-plus seasons in the desert. He landed with the Cubs and closed out the COVID-shortened season with a 3.00 ERA in four games. Selected 43rd overall in the 2011 MLB Draft by the Diamondbacks, Chafin was 2-2 with a 3.76 ERA in 77 appearances for the team in 2019. He struck out 68 batters in 52 2/3 innings for an 85-win Diamondbacks team. In 2018, Chafin also made 77 appearances, as he normally occupied the seventh inning role for the Diamondbacks. He posted a 3.10 ERA and allowed 17 earned runs on 41 hits. Chafin did not give up a home run with 53 strikeouts and 25 walks in his 49.1 innings of work. After surging onto the scene in 2015 with a 5-1 record and a 2.76 ERA in 66 games, Chafin had an injury-plagued 2016 that produced an 0-1 mark with a 6.75 ERA in just 32 appearances. But a big 2017 followed, as he bounced back with a 1-0 mark and a 3.51 ERA in 71 appearances, striking out 61 batters in his 51 1/3 innings of work. Chafin famously made his MLB debut pitching for the Diamondbacks in Aug. 2014 in a game at Progressive Field against the Indians in Cleveland — just 43 miles from his hometown. He has appeared in four postseason games with Arizona (2017) and Chicago (2020). Chafin recorded a key out in an 11-8 Wild Card Game postseason win over Colorado in 2017. Then he made two appearances in a three-game sweep in losses against the Los Angeles Dodgers in the division series. Chafin then appeared in one postseason game with the Cubs in a Wild Card round loss to Miami in 2020. Prior to his professional career, Chafin was a four-year letterwinner and the Firelands Conference Player of the Year in 2008 for Western Reserve. Chafin was also Division III District Player of the Year and All-Ohio first team. In his final high school game of his career, he threw a no-hitter at Mapleton. Chafin holds the school record for most strikeouts in a game (19), most strikeouts in a season (178), and lowest ERA and is tied for most pitching wins (10). Shortly after graduation, Chafin was the No. 1 starter and anchor for the Sandusky American Legion Post 83 summer baseball team, which won its first-ever state title in 2008 — largely behind the lefty's arm. At Kent, Chafin was the Mid-American Conference Freshman of the Year in 2009 with a 4-1 record, eight saves, a 1.26 ERA, and 55 strikeouts. He missed 2010 because of reconstructive Tommy John elbow surgery, then was the MAC Pitcher of the Year after he posted an 8-1 record in 2011 with 105 strikeouts in 89 innings of work and a 2.02 ERA.