In a minor trade this afternoon, the Seattle Mariners acquired fireballing righthander Alex Hoppe from the Red Sox in exchange for minor league catcher Luke Heyman. To make room for Hoppe on the 40 man roster, LHP Tayler Saucedo was DFA’d.
Hoppe, a former sixth round pick in the 2022 draft out of UNC-Greensboro, will turn 27 a month from now and has an intriguing blend of stuff in his arsenal. Headlined by a 98 MPH fastball that’s touched as high as 101, Hoppe has the premium velocity you look for in a backend
bullpen arm and looks to be a potentially leverageable arm if everything clicks for him. Also throwing a cutter at 93, slider at 88, and changeup at 89, there’s a complete arsenal here to refine and optimize with his new organization. This still technically qualifies as an addition to The Pile, but Hoppe seems like he’s got a little something extra under the hood than the typical fringy reliever type. The 4.76 ERA in Triple-A this year is admittedly not good, but a 3.83 FIP with a 27.9 K% both look incredibly promising and swapping his subpar cutter in favor of his changeup looks like some low-hanging fruit that could lead to quick results.
The ballooned ERA this past year largely stems from his biggest bugaboo: command. Both his control and command are subpar, making him vulnerable on poorly placed offerings and a prime candidate to surrender a walk. It’s more tolerable than terrible, but still firmly below average.
An interesting point to note: Hoppe’s release height of roughly 72 inches is abnormally high for a Mariners organization that typically covets the low launch archetype in their arms. Though it’s nothing totally outlier (the average release height is about 69 inches), it’s definitely an interesting tidbit to note.
In order to acquire Hoppe’s services, the Mariners parted with recent draftee Luke Heyman, a catcher out of Florida that is yet to debut. He was a 14th rounder in last summer’s draft that has plus power and a decent amount of pedigree as an amateur, but lacks much else outside of the slugging department and struggles with contact in a major way. He probably would’ve been a top thirty prospect for the Mariners, but far closer to the fringe of the list than anywhere else.
Though losing Heyman isn’t nothing, Hoppe seems to be a casualty of a crowded Boston organization that doesn’t have room on their roster to spare. Yet to make his debut, Hoppe will have three option years left and can always be stashed in Triple-A if he needs some additional time to iron out his command. This is a savvy move by the Mariners front office to bet on their development plan and aim for upside, potentially acquiring a backend reliever on the cheap if all the stars align.
