CHICAGO – Casey Legumina got used to serving it up for people while spending time helping out as a kid at what for a while were up to four Subway franchises owned by his father, Gary, in the Gilbert, Arizona, area.
“Even before I could really work there I had to stock chips, clean tables, do dishes, little stuff like that,” said Legumina, in his first year as a middle reliever with the Mariners. “But it was good. Teaches you work ethic and working with people and that customers can be rude and you just learn to deal with different types of people all the time. It’s almost like being in a clubhouse a little with different personalities and you have to learn how to interact with people differently based on how they are as a person.”
Serving anything up, though, is about the last thing Legumina has been doing lately.
The 27-year-old instead has been mostly just shutting down all opposing hitters he has faced over the past few weeks, highlighting a Mariners bullpen that has been as big of a reason as any for Seattle’s surge into first place in the American League West.
Legumina is 4-1 with a 1.62 earned run average and 17 strikeouts in 16⅔ innings spread over 17 appearances.
The right-hander also has a 0.4 WAR (Baseball Reference’s Wins Above Replacement metric) that is 13th on the team and third among relievers behind Andrés Muñoz (2.0) and Gabe Speier (0.6).
“ ‘Legs’ has been throwing the ball well as have a lot of guys down there,” manager Dan Wilson said.
In the process, Legumina has taken a big step toward forging what could be a significant long-term role in Seattle’s bullpen.
He was acquired by the Mariners from the Reds for cash in February with Seattle looking for some bullpen depth.
His résumé to that point consisted of a 6.95 major league ERA spread over 17 major league games with the Reds in 2023 and 2024.
But the Mariners thought that if they could refine his pitching a bit – specifically, getting him to raise his fastball more consistently and effectively and master his splitter – they might have something.
“They just told me to do what I do best and gave me a few things I could do better at, which was throwing the fastball in better spots and better counts and getting ahead of guys more,” he said. “That was a big thing. They said I throw a lot of strikes but sometimes I just don’t get ahead of guys, so that’s been a big thing, just getting that first strike.”
He’s allowed just four walks over his past 7⅔ innings and seven games, without giving up one unearned run, while striking out 10.
“Throwing heaters at the top, sweepers down, changeups in, sinkers in,” he said of what’s been working well lately. “As long as I can do what I do best, the results should pan out.”
“ ‘Legs’ has really taken to that attack mentality and done a great job with it, has used his stuff very effectively, and when you get ahead and let your stuff work, you put yourself in a really good position to succeed and that’s what he’s been able to do,” Wilson said.
It’s a high point in a baseball ride that hasn’t always been smooth.
A graduate of Basha High in Chandler, Arizona, Legumina pitched three seasons at Gonzaga, mostly as a closer. But he suffered an injury that required Tommy John surgery shortly after he was drafted by the Twins in the eighth round in 2019.
When COVID-19 hit, he was forced to finish out his rehab largely on his own while in Arizona, also spending time working at some of his dad’s Subway restaurants (the family no longer owns any Subways, instead opening a Vitality Bowls café in Gilbert in August. Casey and his brothers Jake and Luke and mother Julie Delaney are also listed as partners along with Gary Legumina).
Legumina finally returned to the mound with the Twins’ Class A affiliate in May 2021, having missed roughly two years.
Now, he said, he sees some positives in it.
“Helped me mature a lot, I feel like,” said Legumina whose father was a pitcher in the Tigers and Dodgers organizations from 1982-86. “Especially the mental grind of going through an injury and the baby steps of that can be tough for guys.”
Still, being designated for assignment by the Reds in late January and then traded to the Mariners created its own share of uncertainty. It was the second time he’d been dealt, having been traded by the Twins to the Reds for veteran infielder Kyle Farmer in November 2022.
“It’s been kind of crazy,” Legumina said of the events of the past few months. “Lights a fire under you a little bit.”
He then began the season in Tacoma but was called up on April 11 after the Mariners optioned pitcher Luis F. Castillo.
He’s hoping now to stay awhile.
“It’s been great just trying to do what I do best,” he said. “That’s all I can really do and just enjoy every moment I have. It’s a dream to be out there and play baseball, so just enjoy every minute of it.”
Former Gonzaga pitcher Legumina makes most of opportunity after Seattle acquired him from Reds