By Paul L. Taylor Posted on

Mariners see silver lining after Emerson Hancock’s latest outing

Bryce Miller is dealing with a setback and Logan Evans is out for the year, but Emerson Hancock is offering hope for the Mariners rotation.

As we wrote earlier in the week, the Seattle Mariners rotation is already looking at some issues before the season even begins. Bryce Miller is dealing with left side oblique inflammation and after suffering a setback early in Wednesday morning’s full bullpen session, it sure seems as if he won’t be ready by the time opening day turns around. (And more specifically the Mariners’ fifth game of the season, when he would be scheduled to pitch.)

With this in mind, thoughts turn to who the Mariners will use as their sixth starter, especially with Logan Evans gone for the year after undergoing UCL surgery. Potential choices include offseason additions Cooper Criswell and Dane Dunning, but another name more familiar to M’s fans is making his own case to get the nod to replace Miller pending his recovery.

The pitcher in question is Emerson Hancock, who the Mariners actually converted to a reliever last year. He’s never lived up to the expectations which came by being selected sixth overall in the 2020 draft, but he’s been putting on a good showing in spring training and is now in line to get some redemption as a starter again if needed.

Hancock has made four appearances so far in Cactus League play including two starts, throwing 17 strikeouts and allowing just one walk, and producing a 0.794 WHIP in 11.1 combined innings. Further, his percentile rankings in spring training are littered with numbers in the 90s, including K% and CSW% (96), Whiff% (95), Z-Contact% and SwStr% (94) and BB% (93).

Emerson Hancock looking dialled in for the Mariners

The 26-year-old’s latest appearance came on Thursday versus the Chicago Cubs, and has arguably given the most cause yet for optimism. Yes the Mariners lost 7-4, but he had an excellent outing as he went 4.2 innings and allowed four hits, two runs and no walks, while striking out five.

Critics may point towards the two runs Hancock allowed in the third inning, but he wasn’t helped by a leadoff double which came as a result of Michael Arroyo losing a routine fly ball in the sun. This set the stage for Ian Happ to hit a two-RBI double that put the Cubs 2-1 in front.

What’s been really encouraging to see is how the righty is showing excellent heat on his throws especially for so early in the year, with his sweeper being the only pitch with an average velocity lower than last season. Grabbing the most attention is his slider, which averaged 81.8 mph in 2025 but has jumped up to 87.0 so far in spring training.

Dan Wilson shows some appreciation for Emerson Hancock

Mariners manager Dan Wilson was delighted with Hancock’s outing on the day. Speaking to the media postgame, including Ryan Divish of The Seattle Times, Wilson said:

“I thought another really outstanding outing for Emerson today. I thought he just attacked the zone so well. Really just the one inning where we had a tough, tough play on that pop up in left field. And then I thought he just shut everything down after that and attacked the zone. I think that sweeper has been huge for him. I just really liked the way he went about it today. And I know he gained some more confidence in this coming out going four strong today.”

There will be those who predict Criswell has the inside track on replacing Miller in the rotation if required. His 1.74 ERA in 10.1 innings over four appearances easily outshines Hancock’s 4.76 ERA, while also producing an excellent WHIP of his own at 0.871.

Whatever happens though, none of this takes away from the fact that Hancock has been tremendous in Arizona for the Mariners. And while he may never match the hype of his lofty draft status he’s still showing enough to deserve sticking around on the team, whether it be as a fill-in starter or as a long-reliever out of the bullpen.

Photos court​‌esy of Tim Rogers Photography

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