Mariners' Justin Topa: Dispatched to minors

The Mariners optioned Topa to Triple-A Tacoma on Monday, Ryan Divish of The Seattle Times reports.

Acquired from the Brewers in January, Topa had a so-so performance in his first camp with Seattle. The hard-throwing righty turned in a 2.25 ERA and struck out eight batters over eight frames in Cactus League play, but he issued three walks and allowed a .300 average to opposing batters. So long as he steers clear of the health issues that have derailed him the past two seasons, Topa should stand a decent chance of surfacing in Seattle's bullpen at some point in 2023.