Breaking: Chargois’ Dominant Run Earns Him…

The Seattle Mariners will have a lot of familiar faces in 2025, but there will be some new players for fans to get used to, as well.

As for who those new faces will be and how many there will be, that’s still to be determined.

The Mariners have several positions on offense that they need to fill before Opening Day. But the biggest turnover on the roster might be the bullpen.

Seattle has five relievers up for arbitration in 2025 and several of them will likely be non-tendered. In the same breath, the team will bring several of those hurlers back in an effort as to not completely re-tool the front-end of the bullpen.

One of those pitchers up for arbitration is JT Chargois.

The ninth-year hurler was traded to the Mariners from the Miami Marlins on July 30. It was his second stint with Seattle after playing 31 games with the Mariners in 2021.

And strictly based off his 2024, Chargois’ current stint in the Pacific Northwest might end up being a lot longer this time round.

JT Chargois by the numbers

Pitching stats: 2.23 ERA, 36 appearances (21 with Seattle), 2-1 record, 36.1 innings pitched, 30 strikeouts, 1.02 WHIP, .183 opp. BA, 0.9 WAR

Advanced pitching stats: 4.55 xERA, .244 xBA, 25.7% Chase, 23.7% Whiff, 4.90 FIP, 7.43 K/9, 78.3% LOB

The reason for the Mariners acquiring Chargois was pretty clear. He’s a primary sinker, slider pitcher who generates whiffs and weak contact resulting in a lot of ground-outs.

And that’s exactly what Chargois did.

Chargois threw his sinker 55.2% of the time and his slider at a 43.1% clip according to Baseball Savant. He had a 27% put-away rate on his sinker and a 33.3% whiff rate on his sinker. Opposing hitters didn’t average better than .206 against either throws.

His groundball percentage (36.6%) was below his career average of 50.2% according to FanGraphs, but he still was as steady a hand as there was in the bullpen.

Chargois also teetered the edge between being used in low-leverage spots and high-leverage situations and was steady in whatever capacity Seattle used him in.

Having a veteran presence in the bullpen that is capable of doing their job is extremely valuable. And Chargois filled that role and still managed to step up when Yimi Garcia’s suffered a season-ending injury.

Best game

Highlighting my earlier point about Chargois being capable in whatever role the team needed him in was in a 5-4 win against the Texas Rangers on Sept. 13.

It was Chargois’ seventh appearance in two weeks and he was called in the eighth inning to help preserve the back-end of the bullpen. Seattle used its high-leverage relievers frequently in its final playoff push.

Chargois struckout the side in order in his one inning pitched. It was just the second time in Chargois’ career that he accomplished that feat and the first time in five years. Chargois threw 14 pitches (10 strikes) and earned the win in the process.

Future prospects

As mentioned before, Chargois is up for arbitration in 2025. He’s estimated to earn $2.32 million in arbitration, according to Spotrac.

Chargois is on the upper end of projected cost for relievers up for arbitration. Austin Voth is the only team bullpen arm that’s projected to earn more than Chargois according to Spotrac.

The reason why Chargois’ odds of returning to the team are so split down the middle is the combination of his cost and his age.