Some of the best relievers can come at bargain prices. Like most teams in the offseason, Seattle made a plethora of moves to add bullpen depth and one of those moves was to acquire Alex Hoppe from the Boston Red Sox.
At first, it seemed far from notable and after conceding nine earned runs in his first four spring training outings, it seemed like he was destined for minor league purgatory. However, the data on his pitches has been simply too good to ignore.
Alex Hoppe's stuff might just be enough for him to be a breakout reliever for the Mariners in 2026
It's important to reiterate that surface-level statistics like ERA in spring training don't matter nearly as much as they do during the regular season.