The Seattle Mariners acquired hard-throwing reliever Alex Hoppe on Nov. 18 in a deal with the Boston Red Sox. While not official, it seemed as if Hoppe was on the verge of not being added to the Red Sox’ 40-man roster, leaving him open to the December Rule-5 Draft.
Instead, the Mariners acquired him for catcher Luke Heyman and they will give him a chance to win a spot in their 2026 bullpen.
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As we outlined in a previous post, it seems likely that there are two open spots for right-handers in that bullpen, with Hoppe, Domingo Gonzalez, Jackson Kowar, Casey Legumina, Ryan Loutos, Troy Taylor, and Cole Wilcox all battling. Each of them are on the 40-man roster as of now.
Now 26 years old, Hoppe was a sixth-round pick of the Red Sox in the 2022 MLB Draft. He played his college ball at UNC Greensboro. In 44 appearances in 2025, mostly at Triple-A, Hoppe went 1-3 with a 4.55 ERA and six saves. He struck out 73 batters in 61.1 innings, but he also walked 34.
His fastball can hit the 100-mph mark and he’s armed with solid secondary stuff.
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The following comes from Joe Doyle of Over Slot Baseball, who is also a frequent guest on the ‘Refuse to Lose’ podcast. He is a draft and prospect analyst.
Very interesting arm. Leverage stuff.
Walks/command have slowed his ascent, but stuff is very unique. Bugs bunny changeup dances and jets off a high slot. 4S has snagged 100, low-to-mid 90s cutter gets whiffs, harder bullet slider compliments arsenal, but command leaves it open to damage.
I would presume Seattle is going to want to get Hoppe throwing the changeup at a heavier clip.
Could end up throwing in big spots.
Hoppe joined the podcast on Tuesday to talk about his trade to the Mariners, what he’s looking forward to, relationships he already has in the organization and much more, including what type of pitcher he is, and playing with Roman Anthony.
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You can listen to that episode in the player below and you can see a portion of it in the video player above:
Back From Thanksgiving + Cease Contract Implications + New Mariner Alex Hoppe Joins Us
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LATEST PODCAST IS OUT: Brady Farkas is back for the the latest episode of the Refuse to Lose podcast! He is back from Thanksgiving, talking about the M’s surging popularity, an underrated storyline for 2026 and much more, including a conversation with newest Mariner, Alex Hoppe. CLICK HERE:Â
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