40 in 40: Casey Legumina

The bean man cometh

When asked which new relievers had stood out so far at camp, manager Dan Wilson said two players: journeyman Jesse Hahn, and Casey Legumina, a 27-year-old traded to the Mariners this off-season who played his high school ball just down the road in Chandler, AZ.

One wonders how much Legumina has grown since his high school days: listed at under 200 pounds and anywhere from a generous six feet to a downright magnanimous 6’2”, Legumina isn’t the most dominating presence on the mound. But he’s shown effectiveness so far this spring, working with an arm slot that will look familiar to fans of our dearly departed Paul Sewald; both pitchers release their fastballs at about 4.9 ft. on average.

Unlike the 6’3” Sewald, who with Seattle was able to get about 30% whiffs on his four-seamer, Legumina’s fastball is more primed to get weak contact outs, especially on the ground. That’s true of his arsenal as a whole; his slider doesn’t drop much, relying on horizontal movement to get batters to put half-hearted cuts on the ball, and his changeup, which sometimes has more horizontal movement and sometimes more vertical, also results in balls chopped weakly on the ground or popped softly into the air. It’s not Prime Paul Sewald Lite so much as it is Prime Paul Sewald Zero Calorie.

But that doesn’t stop the Mariners from being enamored with Legumina, who seems likely to make the team out of camp. The Mariners acquired Legumina from the Reds for cash this off-season and gave him a roster spot when many other fringe arms were available, booting off long-suffering seventh starter Jhonathan Díaz to make room. So far this spring, he’s done nothing to show the team was wrong to place that faith in him, working mostly easy, breezy, beautiful innings that stand in sharp contrast to the sloppier outings that can befall spring training contests. And whether it be a mechanical adjustment or a spring bump in velo, his fastball is closer to 95 on average in camp than 93. Also, his name is Casey Davey Legumina, which is a 65-grade adorable baseball name. Casey! Davey! Legumina! The bean man cometh, and he cometh to T-Mobile Park soon.

Projections:

FGDC: 65.0 IP, 0.0 fWAR, 4.13/4.26 ERA/FIP

PECOTA: 45.0 IP, -0.2 WARP, 4.86/4.57 ERA/DRA

Overs/Unders:

Zach: Over

I’m bullish on Legumina’s changeup. The results haven’t been there yet, but when I watch video, I see a strikeout pitch. He’s my 2025 Pile Pick.

Max: Over

I’ve rocking with the former Zag here. His funky arm angle looks tough on opposing hitters and his fastball sitting 95 was a welcome sight to see. I wouldn’t be shocked if he pulls a rabbit out of a hat and has a full season with the club. Considering he could not even throw a pitch and best these projections, I’ll take the over.

Connor: Under

It’s not that I don’t think Legumina can help out the big league team - and I’m always a sucker for a low arm slot - I just don’t see a scenario where he racks up 40 innings, let alone 60. Relievers are ever fungible, though, so he may be pressed into service, but I see him chewing up innings in Tacoma, and hey, he does have an option left, so he could be riding the MLB-AAA shuttle a couple times this year.

Bee: Under

I’m going to repeat Connor’s under prediction, and for much of the same reasons. I just don’t see the inning count as likely (but also, I too love a low arm slot). The options help him, but I think it will take some real Mariners pitching tweaks before I have faith that he can stick around for long stretches in the bigs. He has some parts of his profile to give some hope, posting some healthy K-BB% through the minors, but his FIP and xFIP numbers undercut a fair amount of that earned confidence.