Washington Nationals Pitcher Found Freedom When He Put God First

Published: January 9, 2025

Washington Nationals Pitcher Found Freedom When He Put God First

By Movieguide® Contributor

Washington Nationals pitcher Chance Huff opened up about how his life changed when he put baseball in the “right slot.”

“When you struggle, it can definitely be very revealing of if baseball is in the right slot or not,” Huff told Sports Spectrum’s “What’s Up” podcast. “I would say in my first full season, baseball was definitely in the wrong slot, and then this last season, baseball was in the right slot, just in the way that I prioritize my life of [if I had a] bad outing, [I] wouldn’t be super upset that night.”

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He explained that spending time with God, reading the Bible and waking up each morning thankful he could play baseball transformed his relationship with God from a transactional one to a meaningful relationship.

“…whereas the last season was almost kind of like that transactional relationship…’I’m doing this stuff to get close with You, and then You’re not giving me what I want out on the baseball field. So, like, if this isn’t going to go two ways, then I’m going to stop.’ And that’s just very, you know, just detrimental to, honestly, your performance, and just your spirit, as well,” Huff said, recalling his perspective on God last season.

He also discussed how his approach to the game — calm, loose or intense — changes how he plays.

“I’m the same guy. I feel like I’m very approachable. I’ve, like, tried to do the…the whole intense day,” Huff explained.

“I remember there was one time back in college when we were playing North Carolina, I was just, like, listening to motivational, hardcore, you know, like a David Goggins kind of pump up,” the pitcher continued. “And just like, straight-faced, tried not to talk to anybody, really just tried to get in the zone. And I just pitched horribly. Versus I feel like I do better whenever I don’t take it too seriously. It’s like, you know, it just goes back to kind of having baseball on the right slot.”

Faith is a priority for Huff, but it wasn’t always. A conversation with his brother Christian Huff started to change his life.

Chance explained that his brother confronted him about his ungodly lifestyle when he was 17. Chance brushed the comments off but later realized the wisdom of what Christian told him.

“I think that’s the, you know, the deception of the devil is he makes everything seem super fun,” Chance said on his sister-in-law Sadie Robertson Huff’s podcast. “But he’s not going to tell you that sex before marriage or partying on the weekends or doing all this stuff is ‘fun’ in the moment, but the baggage that it has you carry further on down the road because. Because if you knew the pain and hurt that was going to be coming with it, you wouldn’t be engaging in the activity in the first place.”

Now he uses his platform as a baseball player to honor God. Last February, Chance went on a mission trip to serve the people of the Dominican Republic where he played baseball and shared Jesus with the people there.

“What an incredible trip and what incredible moments captured,” Huff wrote on his social media page. “It was truly a blessing to get to go into these communities and serve the people of the Dominican Republic – getting to play baseball and teach these young children who dream to make it playing the sport we all love. More importantly though just loving on these kids and creating a space where Jesus will fill their communities is so impactful. Being the hands and feet of Jesus is what we are called to be.”