LAKELAND, Fla. — A name like “Chuck King” almost demands a career as a baseball pitcher.
And that’s exactly what the Phillies minor leaguer who answers to it chose, though his path had a few detours.
King, who spent the 2025 season in the double-A Reading starting rotation, is not on the 40-man roster, nor was he extended an invite to major league spring training. When he pitches in Grapefruit League games as a call-up, his jersey doesn’t have a nameplate on the back.
Even so, King, 28, is taking the opportunity to learn as much as he can from the experience. And that includes Monday’s brutal outing, when the Tigers tagged him for 10 runs while he secured just four outs.
“I could choose to hang my head,” King said. “I got 10 hung on me today. Never a good feeling. But it taught me something. I learned something from it. And ultimately, that’s the goal of this entire thing.”
In another life, King wouldn’t have been on a mound at all on Monday. After five years pitching for Texas Christian University, he felt burned out. He wasn’t finding the same enjoyment in the game that he used to, and in 2021 he considered leaving it behind entirely.
But when a career in biology — his college major — didn’t appear likely either, King decided to return to baseball in a completely different capacity. The Padres hired King to work in their sports science department.
King suddenly had access to information and data, like TrackMan software, that he couldn’t have imagined back in college. And he started to get the itch to get back on a mound again.
“I think the base reason as to why I re-fell in love with the game is because I found clarity and direction as to where to go,” he said.
On his own time, King would play catch with San Diego minor leaguers and apply the mechanical changes he had gained insight into through his day job.
Of all things, it was an explosion that changed everything. In 2023, King was working for the Padres’ single-A affiliate, the Lake Elsinore Storm, when a gas line sparked in their stadium and caused a natural gas explosion. The Storm’s scheduled games were canceled over the weekend, but the team still had a workout that Sunday.
With not much else going on that day, King found himself back on the mound.
“I thought, ‘Well, it’s a laid back kind of deal, right?’ So I’m gonna go up there and just see what comes out,” King said. “And it was, boom, 96 [mph]. Boom, 96. Boom. I was like, ‘OK, whatever I’m doing is working, and I’m in a really good place mentally, and I think that this is an opportunity for me to jump.’”
King’s fastball had been in the 92-94 mph range in college. After seeing the payoff on the radar gun, he quit his job and moved to Scottsdale, Ariz., to dedicate himself to his training at Driveline, a data-driven baseball performance center.
While there, he revamped his arsenal, adding a splitter, and when their pro day rolled around in 2024, King’s fastball touched 98 mph in front of scouts. It landed him a deal with the Phillies. After three years away from pitching, he appeared in 34 games across four levels of their minor league system as a 26-year-old in 2024.
“I think with where he came from, from analyst to getting himself in shape, getting back on the mound, I mean, he’s got nothing to lose,” said Phillies manager Rob Thomson. “ … He’s got to get ahead in the count, because he’s got good stuff. Split’s good, the cutter’s good, fastball plays. May have to add another pitch, different pitch.”
Delving deeper into the analytics side of baseball led King to fall back in love with the game. But a desire to learn has been a hallmark of his entire life. He also has an interest in botany and genetics, and is a hobbyist bird-watcher and wildlife photographer.
King has garnered some attention for the spelling of his middle name, Fuggitt (pronounced FEW-git). He was named after his great uncle, who was a fighter pilot in World War I.
It may not be very common for a professional baseball player to spend his spare time logging bird photos and identifying wildlife species on an app on his phone, but King doesn’t mind being different.
“At the end of the day, you have to remain authentic to who you are as a person,” he said. “And I think people always respect authenticity, and so I’m not going to be inauthentic to what I enjoy doing.”
King pitched 123⅓ innings for Reading last year, posting a 4.38 ERA. His first three call-ups to the major league side this spring went well. He didn’t allow a run over his first five innings of work, and recorded nine strikeouts to one walk.
One of the most valuable takeaways from his call-ups has been the conversations he’s had with Phillies pitching coach Caleb Cotham.
“That dude has blown my mind on seven different occasions,” King said.
They had a few of those conversations on Monday. Facing a Detroit lineup that included several regulars, including Spencer Torkelson, Riley Greene, Kerry Carpenter, and Colt Keith, as well as top prospect and Delco native Kevin McGonigle, King’s fastball command was erratic. He gave up 10 runs on seven hits — including two homers — and four walks.
“We talked about making bullpens more gamelike, and understanding when I’m trying to execute this pitch, what’s my thought process?” King said. “What am I telling myself? And all these little fine micro details that you don’t think about until you have a lineup like that.”
After the game, King went back to minor league spring training and will remain there until the next call-up arrives.
He’s not dwelling on it. If the last five years have taught him anything, it’s that detours are part of the journey.
“I got punched in the face and I stumbled back, and then I got hit again, and I got hit. And that’s how it goes,” King said. “But I can guarantee you that I will use that next time and say, ‘OK, like I’ve been here before. I’ve gotten punched in the face. I’ve gotten 10 hung on me.’
“Good! I will come back with a better mindset and a better perspective to now turn that 10 into five, and then turn that five into three, and then turn that three into one. And that’s the whole goal of it.”
