— Tacoma Rainiers (@RainiersLand) April 8, 2026 Part of Hoppe's success in his brief time with the Mariners has been what he's described as a complete belief from the organization in his abilities. He's also bought into the organization's pitching philosophy of attacking the strike zone. "It's me vs. the (batter's box) in there," Hoppe said before a game against the Athletics on Tuesday at T-Mobile Park. "How many times can I put that circular ball in that box? And if I do that more times than not, I'm gonna more than likely have great success. ... I don't know if there would be a 'final frontier' (for me) because we're always trying to get better. I'm always trying to throw more strikes. There's been outings where I've walked the lead-off guy. That's never a good thing no matter what level you're at. So it's always a constant battle. But that's what baseball players are. You're constantly trying to get better at your craft." According to a report from Daniel Kramer of MLB dot dom, the #Mariners are set to bring up Alex Hoppe tonight from Triple-A Tacoma.

I spoke to Rainiers broadcaster Rylee Pay on today's #RefuseToLose podcast about how Hoppe has looked.

More information, including my previous… pic.twitter.com/u9UKMePQzP

— Brady Farkas (@RefuseToLosePod) April 21, 2026 Beyond the organizational belief in Hoppe, he's also established a relationship from a player who was in a similar situation to him not that line ago. High-leverage right-handed reliever Eduard Bazardo is another pitcher who has experience coming over from Boston to Seattle. Bazardo, who had a seven-month stint with the Baltimore Orioles in between his time with the Red Sox and the Mariners, was acquired by the M's in a trade Aug. 1, 2023. It took several years but Bazardo emerged into a true high-leverage arm for Seattle in 2025. He posted a 2.52 ERA that year and fanned 82 hitters in 78.2 innings pitched across 73 outings. He has a 0.96 ERA across 10 outings this season. "We never really crossed paths but we were conversing about the levels and the affiliates and the little bit of experiences and stuff," Hoppe said. "I'm sure we'll talk more. Bazardo and I had a great relationship in spring training, too. I'm sure we'll dive a little bit more deeper into that as we get to know each other." Time will tell whether Hoppe's role on the bullpen is a permanent one and how he will look in his first taste of major league ball. However, his stuff is intriguing and he seems to have adopted the mentality a lot of successful Mariners relievers already.

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