Chad Pinder, who spent seven seasons with the Oakland Athletics, announced his retirement Saturday, per Robert Murray. Pinder had recently signed a deal with the Atlanta Braves but never appeared in an MLB game for them.
Although the Oakland Athletics have dealt with their struggles in 2023, Pinder played an important role for Oakland in previous seasons. He was a member of the A's from 2016-2022, playing in 553 total games. Pinder was never a star by any means, but he offered crucial versatility, playing second base, third base, and outfield.
Offensively, Pinder posted a career slash line of .242/.294/.417 with a .711 OPS. He added 62 total home runs and 204 runs scored. He played the most games of his career in a single season during the 2019 campaign with the Athletics. That year, Pinder slashed .240/.290/.416 with a .706 OPS and 13 home runs. However, in 2018 Pinder posted a career-high 15 home runs while hitting .258 with a .769 OPS over 110 games.
Chad Pinder last appeared in an MLB game in 2022 with the A's. Across 111 games, Pinder tallied 11 homers and a .648 OPS during the '22 campaign. As mentioned earlier, he signed with the Braves in 2023 and has been playing with Triple-A Gwinnett. Pinder's agent told Murray that the veteran would officially retire following Saturday's game.
Choosing to retire is never an easy decision. Some players choose to do so after just a couple of years, while others play for as long as they possibly can. At 31-years old, Chad Pinder carved out a solid big league career. Playing seven seasons in the league isn't an easy thing to do.
The Athletics should honor Pinder in some type of fashion, perhaps inviting him to throw out a first pitch at some point in 2023.
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