Mariners promoting top pitching prospect to make MLB debut

The Mariners are calling up pitching prospect Emerson Hancock for his big league debut, reports Robert Murray of FanSided. Hancock, the No. 6 overall pick in the 2020 draft, is not yet on the 40-man roster and will need to have his contract selected.

Hancock, 24, has tossed 98 innings in Double-A this season, working to a 4.32 ERA with a career-best 26% strikeout rate, a 9.2% walk rate and a 42% ground-ball rate. He’s been prone to nightmare outings this season, twice being tagged for nine runs in his starts and serving up seven runs in another. Outside those few hiccups, he’s generally been excellent; dating back to June 1, he’s sitting on a 2.97 ERA — despite the fact that one of those nine-run drubbings occurred along the way. Over his past four outings, Hancock has a 1.44 ERA and 26-to-4 K/BB ratio in 25 innings.

Widely regarded as one of the Mariners top-five prospects, Hancock sits in the mid-90s with his heater and has a trio of secondary offerings — all of which garner average or better ratings on MLB.com’s scouting report on the right-hander. FanGraphs touts Hancock’s changeup as his best bat-missing offering, while his slider also draws above-average grades.

Hancock will become the latest in a growing line of homegrown pitching talent to join the Mariners’ roster. Seattle also drafted and developed George Kirby, Logan Gilbert, Bryce Miller and Bryan Woo, all of whom ranked among the sport’s top 100 prospects prior to their respective debuts. Hancock might not be quite as highly touted as some of those arms were at the time of their own promotions, but he’s nevertheless a former top-10 pick with some success at the Double-A level and a good chance at laying claim to a spot in the Seattle rotation.

It’s an increasingly crowded starting staff in Seattle — hence ample trade interest in the Mariners’ young, controllable arms at this year’s deadline — as the staff also features ace Luis Castillo and injured veterans Robbie Ray and Marco Gonzales. Ray will be out well into next year after undergoing Tommy John surgery, however, and Gonzales has been limited to just 10 starts this season. It’s an enviable wealth of pitching talent — one that figures to draw interest again in the offseason.

For now, Hancock’s promotion will give the club six starters, though it’s possible one of Woo or Miller could see their workload reduced in the near future. The former only tossed 57 innings in the minors last year but is already up to 99 this season between the majors and minors. Miller got to 133 2/3 last year and is up to 105 1/3 here in 2023. Adam Jude of the Seattle Times reported yesterday that the club has been considering deploying a six-man rotation, in light of those concerns about their younger hurlers. Hancock logged 98 1/3 frames last year and is up to an even 98 this season, which may put a ceiling on how many innings he has to give as well.

How the Mariners utilize their young pitchers remains to be seen. The club has been hot lately, winning five in a row and eight of their last 10. That’s helped them leapfrog teams like the Red Sox and Yankees and put the M’s in the top spot among American League teams not currently in playoff position. They’re still three games back of the Blue Jays for the last Wild Card spot but they are firmly in the mix for a playoff run, with Hancock hopefully giving them a boost in that regard.