Sometimes, it’s not your year.
In 897 CE, millions of things occurred each day with great meaning to the people living at the time. However, it’s among the less consequential years I could identify in cursory
historical research. Tensions and conflicts abounded, but with a scope of the world more limited than the modern day, it’s hard to envision the experience of the day-to-day experiences of a common person, be they a subject of the Carolingian Empire or the Tang Dynasty.
A wealth of historical records would suggest that for a sizable period of their daily lives, people 1,100 years ago were working hard, but often a bit bored. For them, the opportunity to watch Casey Legumina pitch might’ve been a diversion to be told of for winters to come. 1,129 years ago this month is, after all, the anniversary of the Cadaver Synod, wherein an aggrieved combination of political leaders and the active Pope dragged out the nine-months-deceased corpse of Pope Formosus to be removed from its tomb, propped up within the papal court, and held in trial for his alleged crimes in life. Found guilty, the living Pope Stephen VI is said to have ripped away the papal vestments the rotting corpse had been adorned in for the show, before lopping off the cadaver’s three “blessing” fingers of its right hand, wiping away his acts in power, and hurling the corpse into the Tiber River.
By December of 897, the corpse had been returned to his grave, his acts and good name ostensibly restored by Popes Romanus and Theodore II, neither of whom completed the year as pontifex, while Stephen was strangled to death in prison. This is a world in need of diversion, wonder, and perhaps 400-500 repetitions of one pre-season interview during commercial breaks. A world where the talents of Casey Legumina would have been a welcome spectacle diluting hostility, uncertainty, and boredom.
Whatever challenges 2026 displays, doldrums seem unlikely to lead the list, making the reliever affectionately known as “Bean Man” in these parts a difficult tale to tell. Coming to the Seattle Mariners from stints with the Minnesota Twins and Cincinnati Reds, the latter of whom affording the Gonzaga University graduate his first big league opportunities, Legumina had some boosters ahead of 2025 for a relief role. While he came up short of the big league roster on Opening Day, he quickly was promoted and was used frequently for much of the season, amassing 49.2 IP and a 5.62/4.38/3.77 ERA/FIP/xERA. Legumina struck out just over a quarter of batters he faced, but walked 11.4% and was punished frequently by the long ball, a damnable sin for a fly ball pitcher.
Some early season opportunities in moments high-leverage out of necessity went miserably, albeit in unexpected moments. Legumina’s numbers, for instance, might look slightly better without the 5 ER he yielded in frantic extra innings pursuit of a catastrophic Memorial Day weekend meltdown by Andrés Muñoz. The meltdown was one of eight “Meltdowns” yielded by Legumina, whose command too frequently sunk into subpar realms, floating sweepers over the heart of the plate without the bite nor heat to justify residence.
Often, it seemed, Legumina was left holding the bag on Seattle’s adamant proclivity for extra innings games. Indeed, four of Legumina’s six personal losses came in extras, as well as a victory, with the righty ending up with a decision in each of his extra innings appearances. In spite of this, no reliever with at least 30 innings pitched had a lower average leverage upon his entrance to the game. For an emergency man to get nearly 50 innings speaks to the nature of Seattle’s tightrope acting routine all year long, but Legumina neither earned nor received greater benefit of the doubt over the season’s course.
It leaves the 28 year old in a pickle. Out of options, Legumina’s best route to a roster spot appears to be finding the Trent Thornton juice and finding the edges of the zone just a bit more frequently to mitigate his still-troubling big fly issue. Whether he can get more out of his changeup or continue expanding his fastball usage, there are avenues to see Legumes in Seattle come season’s start.
Perhaps 2025 simply wasn’t his year.
