Phillies reliever Chase Shugart is pitching as well as ever. It wouldn’t be possible without his ‘Granny’ and ‘Paw.’

Wanda Shugart found herself in a predicament in the summer of 2001. Her 4-year-old grandson, Chase, had just started tee ball. He was constantly asking to play Wiffle ball in the front yard, but no one was available to pitch.

Chase’s young mother and father had given legal guardianship to the boy’s maternal grandparents. Shugart’s husband, Ronnie, worked as a pipe fitter, a job that required him to travel often.

So that left Wanda, who knew little about sports, let alone how to spin a lightweight plastic sphere. But she caught on quickly. Every day, the elementary school cafeteria worker would walk outside with her grandson, and would begin to throw; overhand at first, then underhand, when she got tired.

This lasted for about a year. Wanda didn’t have a glove, and one afternoon, Chase lined a Wiffle ball right at her, giving his grandmother a big bruise above her chest.

Chase’s uncle, Ronnie Jr., took over from then on.

“She was like, ‘My time as hitting coach is over,’” Shugart said with a laugh.

The Phillies reliever grew up in Bridge City, Texas, a small town known best for its oil production. Two big leaguers have come out of Bridge City High School; Shugart is the only one who was actually born there.

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The odds were stacked against him geographically and financially, but together, the Shugart family made it work.

Wanda would drive Chase to tournaments and practices. Ronnie Jr. became his at-home baseball coach. When Shugart was 10, his uncle showed him how to throw a curveball (“put two fingers on the horseshoe and just rip it down.”)

Ronnie Sr. worked into his 70s, paying for flights and road trips to showcases across the country. After Chase enrolled at the University of Texas on a baseball scholarship in 2016, his grandfather paid his rent and gave him an allowance.

Everyone seemed to play a role in Shugart’s success, from his biological parents, to his grandparents on his father’s side. But none more so than his 76-year-old “Granny” and his 78-year-old “Paw.”

And as the 29-year-old journeyman navigates his most fruitful big league season yet, he knows who to thank.

“It’s just a huge blessing that I was raised by my grandparents,” Shugart said. “I can’t say that enough. I’m blessed to have a relationship with both of my parents, we’re very close, but I wouldn’t have changed a thing growing up.”

In Bridge City’s corner of southeast Texas, Wanda and Ronnie aren’t Wanda and Ronnie. They’re “Granny” and “Paw,” just as they are to Chase. It’s an apt moniker, considering how much work they do in the community.

The Shugart grandparents were omnipresent in their grandson’s day-to-day life. They were at every game, of course, but also volunteered at his high school, helping with administrative tasks like making photocopies for teachers.

Chad Landry, the longtime baseball coach at Bridge City, said that even after Chase graduated, the Shugarts continued to support the team.

“Granny would always bring brownies once a week,” Landry said. “But [I] would get [my] own personal set of brownies. Just really great people.”

Like his grandparents, Chase carried himself with a workmanlike demeanor. He’d often ask for the ball on back-to-back days, in the time before Texas high schools mandated pitch restrictions.

Landry knew the right-hander had a big future ahead, and gently tried to reel him in.

“There were several situations where it was like, ‘Hey man, that’s enough. You’ve done enough. You’ve struck out 15,’” Landry said. “But that was his mentality: ‘Give me the ball.’”

After going undrafted out of high school in 2015, Shugart enrolled at Texas. He was used as a starter and a reliever, compiling a 4.33 ERA across three seasons, and was selected by the Red Sox in the 12th round of the 2018 MLB draft.

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He spent parts of six seasons in the minor leagues before Boston called him up in August of 2024. It was a brief stint — Shugart appeared in only one game — but he returned to the big-league club again in September, pitching to a 4.15 ERA in 8⅔ innings.

The Red Sox designated Shugart for assignment in January of 2025, and the Pirates traded for him. Between injuries and roster crunches, he struggled to find his footing in the majors. He posted a 3.40 ERA over 35 games with Pittsburgh, but saw his strikeout rate dip, and his walk rate rise.

Through it all, Granny and Paw were by his side, even if they weren’t physically there. They’d send texts to their grandson every morning and every night. They’d stream every game, including those in the minor leagues, and even came up with a unique way to “keep score.”

Granny would hold a small notebook and a pen, neatly jotting down strikes, balls, hits, and runs. It helped manage the septuagenarian’s in-game jitters, while also keeping her engaged.

“It’s nothing spectacular, but it’s her thing,” Shugart said. “Just a little notepad that she fills up.”

The Pirates designated the reliever for assignment in January 2026, and the Phillies traded for him five days later. There were some familiar faces in the bullpen — Shugart played with Brad Keller in Boston and Tim Mayza in Pittsburgh — but he also quickly gelled with pitching coach Caleb Cotham.

“When I got traded over here, he and I tinkered with the two-seam grip I was using,” Shugart said. “And I think that’s had a lot of success this year, and is something that helps me set up what I want to do to hitters.

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“Even just getting early contact and getting somebody out with it, I feel like the confidence in that [is big]. And then working with it throughout the offseason, through the spring, and just sticking with it, is something that’s helped me.”

The work paid off. Following a brief stint in Lehigh Valley, Shugart was recalled on April 14. The horizontal break on his two-seamer has increased by nearly three inches, and his velocity has ticked up across the board.

Shugart is striking out more batters (at a rate of 26.5%) and allowing fewer walks (5.9%) than he ever has at the big-league level. He’s quietly become one of the Phillies’ most reliable relievers, posting a 1.53 ERA across 17⅔ innings.

He still carries the same “give me the ball” mentality that he had in high school. On April 30, in the first game of a doubleheader against the Giants, Shugart entered in relief of Tanner Banks in the top of the ninth, with two on and two out.

He struck out Matt Chapman on four pitches to end the game and earn the win. Not long afterward, Cotham approached him in the dugout. He asked how Shugart felt, and whether he’d be good to pitch later that night.

The second game went into extra innings, and Shugart was called upon in the top of the 10th. He allowed just one hit with one strikeout, earning his second win of the day.

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“I felt fine warming up,” he said, “so I was like, ‘Why not?’”

Unbeknownst to the reliever, Shugart made a bit of history. According to researcher Sarah Langs, he became the first big league pitcher to win both games of a doubleheader since 2013.

Granny and Paw weren’t in attendance, but were very proud, and made sure their grandson knew it. They have yet to see him throw for the Phillies in person, but are planning a trip to the ballpark this year, with Shugart’s fiancée, Aubrey.

And whenever that day comes, you better believe the 76-year-old grandmother will be attuned to every pitch, with a notebook in hand.

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