New Orioles reliever Alex Hoppe aims for the middle of the zone. He trusts his stuff to do the rest.

MINNEAPOLIS — Alex Hoppe is nothing if not honest.

The right-handed reliever, whom the Orioles acquired as part of the deal that sent outfielder Taylor Ward to the Seattle Mariners, doesn’t mince words or dance around the subject.

“I know this about myself: I’m not good enough to hit spots,” Hoppe said. “I’m not good enough to go, ‘Hey, we need to throw a down-and-away fastball to this guy.’”

OK, that’s good. Half of the battle out there is being true to oneself, and Hoppe certainly is. He knows the scouting report on himself: high-velocity fastball, wipeout slider, no guarantee of where it’s going.

There is a solution, however, and the simplification of Hoppe’s approach could be the key to making him a reliable bullpen arm in Baltimore.

He aims for the middle of the zone.

His pitch probably isn’t going to end up there. And if it does, Hoppe trusts his fiery fastball and the movement on his slider to induce weak contact or swings and misses.

“Keeping it as simple as possible,” said Hoppe, who added that he needed to learn at every step on his path to the majors that his stuff was good enough in the zone to trust it there.

“The main point is just getting in the zone, whether that’s middle-middle, up and in, whatever,” Hoppe said. “To be honest, I can tell you, I’m aiming middle-middle, and probably eight out of 10, it’s not going to end up middle-middle. It’s hopefully going to end up in the zone at some level, but most of the time it’s going to be painted down and away, and sometimes up and in to a righty and stuff. It’s going to work out in my favor because of the stuff and the velo that comes with it.”

This is seen more and more across the majors. As teams search for velocity and movement — and command, in some cases, is secondary — they have instructed their catchers to set up the target in the center of the plate.

Manager Craig Albernaz, a former catcher, said command often takes longer to develop. He pointed to right-hander Nathan Eovaldi of the Texas Rangers as a good example of the “evolution of a pitcher,” from a young starter who tended to spray his pitches to a pitcher capable of wipeout stuff while also dotting fastballs on the black.

It’s sometimes hard to tell if or when command will click for a pitcher. The Orioles hope Hoppe can find it.

Pitching coach Drew French said he and the rest of his pitching department sat down with Hoppe on his first day in Baltimore to learn more about how the hurler ticks.

“You’ve got to listen to how guys talk about themselves, because that’s how they talk to themselves,” French said. With that in mind, French discovered what Hoppe makes clear to most people. “We understand what’s important to him.”

Hoppe wants to throw strikes — to simplify everything, aim middle-middle and see his pitches play. The Orioles think there are some “small, minor things” they can alter in Hoppe’s mechanics and pitch grips to aid in the endeavor.

“We know it’s a really simple arsenal,” French said. “Here comes 100 and here comes a 90-plus slider. That’s what it looks like in the big leagues, and obviously, you’ve got to be able to do that stuff in the zone before you can do it out of the zone.”

Albernaz added, “Usually with relievers, just paint the white, fill it up, give them the biggest margin of error to work with their elite stuff and bank on the swing and miss.”

The rookie has struggled at times to stay in the zone this year. During his debut for the Mariners in April, for instance, Hoppe showed his best and worst. He struck out three batters but also walked three and gave up three runs because of it.

“If I look at the numbers, it went poorly,” Hoppe said with a laugh.

But he tries not to look at numbers, because Hoppe wants to keep everything as simple as possible. Instead, he emphasizes the improvements made. Despite a 5.46 ERA, his 8.4% walk rate is around league average.

His fielding independent pitching — an advanced metric that takes into account only events a pitcher can control, such as walks, hit batters, strikeouts and homers — is 2.88, which indicates some poor luck on balls in play compared to his elevated ERA.

And despite the up-and-down nature of his first season in the majors, Hoppe focuses on one key element.

“The most important thing is you just want to get there,” he said. “At the end of the day, who cares about your ERA? You made it to the big leagues. That’s every kid’s dream.”

Hoppe wants to succeed, of course. He is just careful not to live and die by results, which would probably lead him to attempt perfection. But perfection — painting the corners and showing pinpoint command — is not Hoppe’s game.

Maybe someday it will be, as the 27-year-old continues to evolve. For now, Hoppe is going to throw his triple-digit heater and his elusive slider, and he’s going to dare hitters to touch them.

“We’re going to play a numbers game,” Hoppe said. “We’re going to throw it over the plate and it’s going to work out more times than not. It’s really just accepting that.”