Sean

Poppen

Poppen was cut loose after just a pair of relief appearances for Triple-A Tacoma. The 30-year-old righty signed a minor league deal back in February and hasn’t appeared in the majors since the 2022 campaign.

As is often the case at this time of year, there were no real surprises among this first group of cuts for the Mariners. Abbott appeared in just one Cactus League game, issuing three walks and giving up two earned runs in his lone inning of work. He’ll begin the season as extra bullpen depth for the M’s at Triple-A Tacoma.

The 30-year-old Poppen spent all of 2023 in Triple-A for the Padres, struggling to a 6.33 ERA in 58 1/3 innings in the hitter-friendly Pacific Coast League. Poppen has a 5.08 ERA in 63 appearances with four different teams between 2019-22. He has missed bats a decent amount in his career with a 22.3 percent strikeout rate, but he’s had some issues with walks that have limited his ability to stick on an MLB roster.

Poppen was claimed off waivers from the Diamondbacks last month. The 28-year-old right-hander still has a reasonable chance of turning into a useful middle reliever, but holds a lackluster 5.08 ERA 1.59 WHIP and 67/30 K/BB ratio across 67 1/3 innings (63 appearances) since 2019 in the majors.

It seems like the Diamondbacks had worse bets than Poppen on their 40-man roster, but they didn’t think so. The 28-year-old righty posted a 4.40 ERA in 28 2/3 innings out of their pen last season. He throws in the mid-90s and gets plenty of movement on his slider, but the slider still hasn’t been an effective pitch for him in the majors. He’ll compete for a spot in middle relief in a Padres bullpen that has less room for him than Arizona’s did.

He’s taking the place of Luis Frias in the Diamondbacks bullpen after the right-hander was optioned to Triple-A. The 28-year-old hurler has appeared in 26 games for the Diamondbacks already this season, compiling a 3.91 ERA, 1.38 WHIP and 19/11 K/BB ratio over 25 1/3 innings of work. He’ll function in a middle relief role.

Poppen continues to shuttle back and forth between Triple-A and the big league roster whenever they need a fresh arm. The 28-year-old holds a 3.91 ERA, 1.38 WHIP and 19/11 K/BB ratio over 25 1/3 innings with the Diamondbacks this season.

Poppen was just optioned out on Sunday afternoon, but he’ll be back in the Arizona bullpen Tuesday night against the Padres with Zach Davies (shoulder) landing on the IL. Poppen, 28, has posted a 2.91 ERA, 1.29 WHIP, and 17/9 K/BB ratio in 21 2/3 innings this year at the major league level.

Poppen was optioned to make space on the active roster for Dallas Keuchel. The 28-year-old right-hander has posted a 2.91 ERA 1.29 WHIP, and 17 strikeouts across 21 2/3 innings with Arizona.

Poppen has been out since April 23 with right shoulder inflammation. The 28-year-old right-hander had allowed just one run over six innings of work before landing on the injured list. He’s expected to work out of the bullpen.