Chargois back with the team that shaped him

This story was excerpted from Daniel Kramer’s Mariners Beat newsletter. To read the full newsletter, click here. And subscribe to get it regularly in your inbox.

SEATTLE -- As word broke in the visitors’ clubhouse last Tuesday at Fenway Park that the Mariners had bolstered their bullpen depth by acquiring an old friend, it was actually tough to track down players who have remained with the team since JT Chargois was last here.

Three years ago (nearly to the date) seems like yesterday but also eons ago when considering turnover in the Majors. Yet the only position players who remain are Cal Raleigh, Dylan Moore, J.P. Crawford and Mitch Haniger, who left and then came back. The only pitcher is Logan Gilbert, who didn’t make his MLB debut until that May.

Basically, Chargois has returned to a familiar but different environment.

“I definitely enjoyed my time over here, so it's great to be back,” said Chargois, who was acquired from the Marlins in exchange for Minor League starting pitcher Will Schomberg. “They have a good staff and a lot of new faces, but it's exciting for sure.”

There are two figures still around who are perhaps more integral to Chargois’ return -- and the success he had his first time around: pitching coach Pete Woodworth and director of pitching strategy Trent Blank, who was Seattle’s bullpen coach in 2021.

They were, Chargois said, instrumental in helping him unlock more potential. Over his first three seasons in the Majors, with the Brewers in 2016 and Dodgers from ‘18-19, Chargois carried a 4.58 ERA, a 90 ERA+ (league average is 100) and a 1.36 WHIP in 85 outings, production that prompted him to pitch in Japan in ‘20.

He returned to the States and signed with Seattle on a Minor League contract days before Spring Training in ‘21. The Mariners then parlayed his success into acquiring Diego Castillo from the Rays at that year’s Trade Deadline.

“They did a great job really of just laying out, on paper, what I did as a baseball player,” Chargois said. “And I got to see sort of what I was and kind of leverage what I did well. And really, I had a game plan about what I needed to do right to go out there and get outs and what I could do to be more successful.”

Chargois has already pitched in two games since returning to the Mariners, going 1 1/3 innings in Saturday’s 6-5 win over the Phillies, then throwing a scoreless seventh inning on Sunday, when the game was still close. He was also aided by two phenomenal catches from Victor Robles. Chargois has tallied two strikeouts among the eight batters he has faced, and how he’s been deployed could hint at how manager Scott Servais may do so longer term.

Chargois has been a pivot arm in each outing to the rest of the bullpen, a spot that Servais values greatly -- and one Chargois largely pitched out of during his first stint in Seattle. That year, he had a 3.00 ERA in 31 outings while relying heavily on a sinker/slider mix, with a preference on the breaking ball. This year, he’s throwing the sinker, a pitch that keeps the ball on the ground, more (55.4 percent usage), compared to the slider (42.8 percent), which misses bats.

“I've got to be honest, I don't even know if I'm really trying to miss bats all that much,” Chargois said. “Like, a lot of the time -- especially when I was here -- I came in during a lot of situations where there were runners on, and the ground balls and the double play seemed to be a much more efficient way to navigate through that inning and not necessarily try to miss the bat but have them hit the ball.”

Chargois also gained more confidence pitching in Seattle, which helped him carve out at least another three seasons after having to remake himself in Japan. Chargois is earning $1.285 million this year and is eligible for arbitration one more time before becoming a free agent after the 2025 season.

“Really, my game was being like a one-trick pony,” Chargois said. “I kind of evolved into not being boxed into one particular trait. I could do different things, and it gave me confidence -- it gave me places to go in a pinch. And so, a lot of stuff really -- just learning how to be a baseball player -- happened here.”