BALTIMORE – It’s been an interesting year for new O’s righty reliever Alex Hoppe. A sixth-round draft pick in 2022 by the Boston Red Sox, this was the season he made his MLB debut and that was with Seattle.
He has gone up and down a couple of times from the minors this year between Seattle and Triple-A Tacoma. On July 26 he got his latest call to the majors.
A week later he was traded.
As Seattle acquired O’s outfielder Taylor Ward, Hoppe and two minor league right-handers came to Baltimore.
Hoppe, who has one of the best velocity fastballs in the game, has pitched better in Baltimore than Seattle. With the Mariners he posted an ERA of 5.79 over 28 innings with 11 walks and 34 strikeouts.
With the Orioles, after a scoreless ninth inning last night, he’s been in six games throwing 5 1/3 scoreless with two walks and five strikeouts.
“The Orioles have made this an easy transition,” he said of joining his new club. “Just a great group of guys and I am happy to be here. From the start, my new teammates and staff said, ‘We want to make this as easy as possible for you. Whatever you need. Whatever you were doing there, let’s do it here so you hit the ground running.
“The first thing when I got here, I sat down with the pitching coaches and we had a meeting. They wanted to hear from me, what my process was, what my thoughts were on what I do well and some things I want to work on. We were all on the same page right from step one.”
Hoppe played five seasons in college at UNC-Greensboro and was a senior draft pick in 2022 when he was the Southern Conference Pitcher of the Year, going 8-2 with a 2.97 ERA.
He had modest stats in three seasons on the Red Sox farm, posting an ERA of 4.76 from 2023 through 2025. He was traded to Seattle last November and this season he had an ERA of 2.65 for Seattle’s Triple-A club in 15 games. He made his MLB debut on April 27 at Minnesota.
MEETING THE NEW COACHES
It’s easy to see what the O’s like about him. A fastball that averages 98 mph, in the top six percent of the majors. A 40 percent whiff rate on his slider, a 48.4 percent groundball rate and he now also throws a two-seamer. MLB batters hit .241 or worse this year off all three pitches.
I asked him if his new coaches in Baltimore had any new thoughts about his pitching?
“I am sure they have some thoughts. We talked a little bit,” he said. “But they were of the mindset of, ‘we don’t have to make any drastic changes.’ We have the stuff and we had success with Seattle.
“I am sure there will be things we tinker with in the offseason. Just how any pitcher would. You try to get better every year. Otherwise guys will pass you up and the league will pass you by. I’m sure we’ll have those conversations at some point.
“But right now we are in the middle of a playoff push. Let’s try not to change too many things when things are working. Let’s go to my strengths and go out there and win.”
Dating back to his time with Seattle, eight of Hoppe’s last nine games since July 27 have been scoreless outings.
He fanned two in the ninth last night, getting the Yankees’ Ben Rice and Luis Garcia Jr. He threw 15 pitches and nine were at 99 mph or more with four at 100 mph or more.
He said he started to gain some fastball velocity in college and now he can bring it with the best of them. He reached the upper 90s after weight room work in college and touched 100 mph for the first time in his first pro season.
How has that pitch evolved for him over the years?
“Minor changes with some grips to get some movement patterns,” he said of his heater. “The velo has been there since I’ve been in pro ball. We added a two-seam fastball, Seattle helped me add that, and that is a new pitch this year. Gives me two different fastballs to play off the slider. Been good. I try to not think too much on the mound. Just attack hitters and be aggressive.”
THE SLIDE PIECE HAS BEEN A REAL SOLID PITCH
The slider is actually his most used pitch as he throws that 43.5 percent, using his four-seam 37.0 and his two-seam sinker 18.4. He has a changeup but has thrown it just six times all season.
The slider can be a real putaway pitch, but it’s not used solely for that purpose.
“Sometimes I use it early in the count. It all depends on the hitters and what their tendencies are and I trust the catchers and their eyes. What they are seeing with their eyes may be different than what the reports say. I’m going to trust their eyes in the middle of the game more than the reports.
“I have told the coaches here that I will throw any of my three pitches in any count to any batter. Because I feel I can get those guys out in any count.”
MLB hitters can hit 98 if the movement is not there, so Hoppe has worked hard over the years to have the velo and the movement too.
“That is one reason I added the two-seamer,” he explained. “To have two fastballs with different movement profiles in the upper 90s. These hitters are the best. You can throw it 105 but they can hit it. That is the benefit of having two different fastballs.”
He continues to enjoy his new club. Both his bullpen cohorts and the pitching coaches he works with.
“I love that we are such a young group of guys and we are all pulling for each other. There are times you are in leverage situations but they are not going to let you get overexposed. You are not going to have to throw two innings every single time. Maybe there are two righties coming up and hey you get those two and let’s go from there.
“We are all pulling for each other. We are all working as a unit, passing the baton. That is what can make a bullpen elite,” added Hoppe.
Pictures for this story are courtesy of the Baltimore Orioles
ANOTHER CLOSE LOSS
The Orioles are once again on a downward trend. This has happened before. They lost 5-3 to the Yankees last night and have scored four runs in this series.
They are 61-66 for the year, losing the last three by five combined runs.
When Pete Alonso drove one deep toward the left-field foul pole in the last of the seventh it looked like his second homer of the game and it would provide the O’s a late 4-3 lead. The ball was ruled foul and upheld by a replay review.
The O’s and their fans were hopping mad.
Made only worse when righty Cam Sanders handed New York a game-winning rally in the eighth by issuing a walk and hitting two batters.
The Orioles, who scored 51 runs their previous eight games as this series began, are 0-for-12 with runners in scoring position this series.
No posts
Comments
Nothing yet. Say the first thing.
Sign in to join the conversation.