Seattle Mariners Reliever JT Chargois Talks About Current Stint in Seattle
SEATTLE — The Seattle Mariners have had some of the most critical wins of the season recently.
The Mariners took two games by scores of 5-4 against the Texas Rangers on Friday and Saturday.
Most of the praise for Seattle's wins have been credited to Julio Rodriguez and Randy Arozarena. Rodriguez had the go-ahead three-run home run on Friday and Arozarena had the walk-off RBI single on Saturday.
But as much celebration the two have received for their game-winning efforts, the bullpen deserves some flowers as well.
The relievers were credited for two wins and a save on Friday and Saturday. The winning pitcher for Friday's game was ninth-year hurler JT Chargois — his second victory in his current stint with the Mariners.
Chargois took the mound in the eighth inning and struck out the side in order — something he's done just one other time in his career (July 4, 2019, against the San Diego Padres).
"I didn't know that," Chargois said before Saturday's game against the Rangers. "It doesn't happen that often. I'm not necessarily a big strikeout guy. I'm trying to throw as few pitches as possible and that's usually with the ball being put in-play early in the at-bat. But yeah, it's cool. I told my wife right when I got done, 'That's the best I've thrown the ball all year.' It was cool. But at the end of the day, that's over with and it's on to today. And you're not guaranteed that stuff today. So it's just trying to figure out how to get yourself in a position to execute as well as possible."
Chargois didn't make an appearance for Saturday's. But the impact of his most recent appearance paid dividends. Chargois, along with Austin Voth, Trent Thornton and Tayler Saucedo, held down the fort on Friday and gave two of Seattle's three back-end relievers (Collin Snider and Troy Taylor) a day off.
Taylor and Snider pitched an inning apiece on Saturday and kept the Mariners tied with Texas before Andres Munoz entered the game and earned the win.
"Everybody's got good stuff," Chargois said. "This organization is really good at finding — and you see it with the starters — developing great pitching. Everybody has that in their back pocket at all times. But just to see, for me personally, our starters go out there and navigate lineups as efficiently as they do for six, seven, sometimes eight innings every single day, there's just a lot of fuel to go out there and perform. Especially on the back end of the game. So I think, for me, (the motivation) is just watching our starters go out there. They're not very flashy. They're all about business. And they're dead serious about what they're doing. And it's fun to watch. ... It rubs off. It rubs off on me."
Chargois is in the middle of his second stint with Seattle after the team acquired him in a trade with the Miami Marlins on July 30.
The Miami Marlins are reportedly trading RHP JT Chargois to the Seattle Mariners.
— MLB Network (@MLBNetwork) July 30, 2024
Chargois has a 1.62 ERA in 15 appearances out of the bullpen this season. pic.twitter.com/sIcKWevhEe
Chargois spent some time with the Mariners in 2021 before being traded to the Tampa Bay Rays that same season. He spent the better part of four seasons in Florida with the Rays and the Marlins before being brought back to the Pacific Northwest.
According to Chargois, he knew it was a possibility that one day he could return to the organization based on conversations he had with former team manager Scott Servais and President of Baseball Operations Jerry Dipoto.
"It's cooler (than in Florida)," Chargois said. "When I got traded before, Jerry had told me on the phone, 'You never know, it always comes back full-circle.' And Servais would — every time I played against them — he would always say that he loved having me. And it was great compliments. And I'm just thankful to be back here. It's a great team, great organization, it's a beautiful ballpark. The summer is absolutely beautiful here in Seattle and it's very special to be playing meaningful baseball late in the year. Always is. So I'm grateful."
Chargois has a 2.87 ERA with 17 strikeouts in 16 appearances and 15.2 innings pitched since rejoining Seattle. And he'll likely make more of an impact before the season wraps for the Mariners.
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