The Mariners announced that they have recalled right-hander Alex Hoppe. The righty will be making his major league debut as soon as he gets into a game. In a corresponding move, Seattle has designated righty Casey Legumina for assignment. Daniel Kramer of MLB.com reported the moves prior to the official announcement.
Hoppe, 27, was just acquired from the Red Sox in November. That was the Rule 5 protection deadline. The Sox apparently didn’t have roster space for him, so they sent him to the Mariners in exchange for minor league catcher Luke Heyman. The M’s immediately selected him to their 40-man so that he wouldn’t be available in the Rule 5.
He started the season on optional assignment at Triple-A and is out to a great start with his new organization, having thrown eight scoreless innings. Of the 30 batters he has faced, he struck out 12 of them, a 40% clip. He also induced grounders on two thirds of ball in play. He has issued three walks, a 10% pace.
That’s a small sample of size of work. Last year’s numbers were somewhat similar but not quite as impressive. He tossed 61 1/3 innings across Double-A and Triple-A with a 4.55 ERA, 26.4% strikeout rate, 12.3% walk rate and 54.7% ground ball rate.
His fastball averages in the upper-90s and he pairs that with a high-80s slider he has been throwing more than half the time so far this year, while also mixing in a cutter and a changeup. The M’s will give him a chance to see if his stuff plays against major league hitters. He has a full slate of options and can be easily sent back down to Triple-A if he scuffles, or just if they need some fresh arms.
For now, the roster casualty is Legumina. He made his major league debut with the Reds but that club designated him for assignment in January of 2025. The Mariners sent cash to Cincinnati in order to get Legumina. His first season with the Mariners didn’t go especially well. He made 48 appearances for the big league club, throwing 49 2/3 innings with a 5.62 ERA. His 25.1% strikeout rate was a bit better than average but his 11.4% walk rate was a few ticks worse than par.
Due to those struggles, he was sent to the minors a few times and burned his final option year, leaving him out of options here in 2026. That put him on thin ice in terms of his roster spot. Thus far, he has thrown 11 2/3 innings over eight appearances. His 4.63 ERA is about a run better than last year but his strikeout rate is down to 17% in that small sample. The lower ERA is mostly due to the fact that none of the fly balls he has allowed have cleared the fence, a fact that wouldn’t have been sustainable.
His velocity is also down on most of his pitches. His four-seamer averaged 94.3 miles per hour last year but is down to 93.5 so far this year. His sinker has gone from 93.8 to 93 mph while his slider has dropped from 81.1 to 79.7 mph.
Legumina’s struggles and his out-of-options status have pushed him into DFA limbo, which can last as long as a week. The waiver process takes 48 hours, so Seattle could take as long as five days to explore trade interest, but they could also place him on waivers sooner than that. If he were to clear outright waivers, he would stick with the Mariners as non-roster depth. Since he doesn’t have a previous career outright or at least three years of service time, he would not have the right to elect free agency.
Photo courtesy of David Frerker, Imagn Images
Mariners are telling players that when fringe players lose a game they lose their spot. Or just making room for a rookie. Never impressed with the Pea. Always was just hanging on. Go Ms.
He should’ve lost his spot like halfway through last year. This is coming way too late.
Last season Legumina could still be optioned back and forth from AAA. Now he’s out of options so a DFA was probably inevitable.
Exactly legumina was so bad he made Carlos Vargas look like Mariano compared to him
At least Vargas has good stuff
I’d think, rather, the Legumina got an extra opportunity this year because the M’s treat their guys pretty well….
terrible pitcher. he’s never been good. lost 4 games for us last year (and last night too).
made the OD roster this year not because he had a good spring, but because he was out of options. Casey went to Gonzaga, so that’s another reason the foolish Mariners kept him around. Good riddance
Good. Casey hasn’t been very sharp.
My favorite moment involving Casey Legumina was Christian Walker hitting a walk off home run of him last year.
Last night was rough. Not sad to see him go, unfortunately
Been waiting for this guy to get released forever. Comes into games and promptly gives up runs consistently.
Legumina will likely get picked up by the Cubs and then thrive. That seems to be one destination our failed middle leverage relievers seem to find themselves of late. Definitely not the worst 6th, 7th inning guy I’ve ever seen trotted out there.
Legumina has always been really bad but the Mariners do need a fresh arm either way.
This was Jerry’s way of MAKING Dan Wilson stop being bad at bullpen decisions. If he can make every guy in the pen a leverage option, then Dan cant screw up everytime.
You guys ride Dan for being bad at bringing in relievers. First every manager makes mistakes. Dan might make more than usual but remember he has little experience with relievers making the decision to bring in who. I for one think he is getting better and will excuse the likely mistakes.
Exactly the reasons he shouldn’t be the manager!
“Dan, stop playing the guys I give you!!” How does Jerry escape your ire, but Dan gets both barrels? Weird.
@Chester- I think it’s pretty easy to explain since Bob said it right there in his comment: Legumina is not a leverage option, and Dan was treating him like one. It’s not about avoiding players Jerry gives him, it’s about playing them in the right spot. Since Dan wasn’t doing that with Legimina, Jerry decided to go ahead and get rid of the guy for a rookie that Dan surely won’t shoe horn into a leverage spot.
Read Kelenic’s Beer Can response. If you think managing a baseball game is a simple as that, “Use player A if leverage, use player B if not leverage,” I’m not exactly sure what to say. It’s very strange how many Mariner fans think former all-star catcher, Dan Wilson, is baseball illiterate, while fans are geniuses is a level of delusion I can’t comprehend.
He used Criswell for an inning in the 9th while trailing in the same game. In what world should Legumina be first in the pecking order between those two? Not the one in which he was DFAd the next day.
So you wanted Criswell in the 8th and Legumina in the 9th? Seems awfully silly to be upset about.
Bazardo and Speier both pitched a lot as of late. Munoz is the closer so you want him in the 9th. The only pitchers available last night (sans Munoz who is the only one with the strictest role) were the b team relievers and Brash. Ferrer did his job against the pocket of left handed bats, Brash kept the top of the order at bay in the 7th to preserve the tie. At that point you’re coin flipping between Wilcox and Legumina as to who gets the 8th in a tie game. Neither of whom are actually great options as they’re both garbage time arms. I don’t necessarily blame Dan for this when he’s not given much of a choice in the matter already. It’s as much on Dipoto and Hollander for not adding another quality reliever to the pile as well.
I will blame Dan for once again yanking Raley from the game perhaps 2 innings sooner than he ideally should have.
Using Legumina in a tie game, then bringing Criswell in while trailing in the 9th is enough for me to disagree with the choice. I understand availability and limiting innings and all that. It’s early and you don’t want to run relievers into the ground. Totally. I’m on board with that. But Legumina would have been my last choice behind Criswell and Wilcox.
But I agree, the pen needs an addition.
So Criswell pitches the 8th, and now we’re tied in the 9th. Legumina time!!
Don’t take Legumina if you are allergic to Legumina.
Maybe he can be traded for a bag of peanuts.
Or magic beans.
Not sure who else was available last night but Legumina coming into the 8th inning of a tied game is not something you want to see. Let’s hope the M’s can pull another bullpen rabbit out of their hat this year.
Bazardo and Speier pitched a bunch in the previous two series. They got a lot of usage out of them last year and they were gassed come playoff time so I think now they’re trying to manage their innings a little more effectively so they’re more effective in the playoffs.
Yes, that’s what happened, but is it that difficult to find eight capable relievers in the system? Everyone said that was the weakest link on the team (after Munoz, Brash, Bazardo, Speier, and Ferrer) and that we needed one more reliever, but it didn’t happen. And it’s not as if the starters aren’t eating up innings. They are. But Criswell, Hoppe, and Wilcox? And after them, it’s Simpson, Mayer, and Zulueta? Yeesh. The Ms had a short roster (that included players Dan Wilson didn’t trust) against the Blue Jays in October and almost won despite it; they should have learned from that.
Thought it was more of, in a 162 game season, sometimes you’re not going to have a high-leverage guy available for every high-leverage spot.
sure, but this guy shouldn’t have even been on the roster! he’s awful. thank god they took away Dan Wilson’s toy.
Dan loves Casey or “Legs” as he affectionately calls him… not kidding about that either…last year over and over again it was Dan saying after another tough loss, “Legs threw the ball well, but the ball
didn’t bounce our way”
I heard the Nats need pitching.
Today should be a national holiday. I’d rather have one of those spinning wheel pitching machines on the mound than Legumina.
Honestly not sure how he lasted this long.
Turned off the TV when Dan brought him in for the 8th inning of a tied game. I knew he’d give up hits and runs – just like he has for most of his Mariners career. If he pitches the rest of the year in Tacoma, I hope he succeeds in learning how to get guys out, but his stuff is either off the plate by a lot or his used-to-be-fastball is flat and down the middle. Step up, Alex Hoppe. Let’s see what you got.
I’m not so sure Wilson uses his pen all that well some of that playoff with the Jays is a stark reminder. It took Servais awhile before he finally became good at it.
Servais became good at it? What did I miss?
Finally. Legumina was inconsistent to say the least.