Mariners top pitching prospect Emerson Hancock throws live batting practice in Tacoma
Without a traditional minor league season, there’s been no reason for the Mariners to rush their top pitching prospect to the mound this summer in Tacoma.
Emerson Hancock, the hard-throwing right-hander from Georgia the club drafted with the sixth overall pick in June, has spent much of his three months as part of Seattle’s 60-man player pool taking his development slow.
He’s been watching and learning from the more experienced pitchers in the system, while gradually ramping up his throwing program.
“We wanted to make sure everything was sound,” he said on a video call Friday following a workout at Cheney Stadium. “That we were ready to go while also building up … and I think it’s worked out well.
“It’s nice to not be rushed, and to just kind of work on some things, and now’s the time we can really do that.”
Friday morning, underneath a hazy sky in Tacoma, the 21-year-old was ready to put what he’s learned and been working on this summer into practice against some of the Mariners’ other top prospects. Hancock, at long last, took the mound to throw a live batting practice session.
He faced five batters — prospects Taylor Trammell, Noelvi Marte and Alberto Rodriguez were the hitters who faced him — resulting in what would have been four groundouts and a swinging strikeout in his 26-pitch session.
“I was just so happy to get back out there, and get some adrenaline going, face some hitters,” he said.
There’s more to work on, but Hancock said he was taking some positives away from the outing. He hasn’t been fully ramped up since March, after all, when the COVID-19 pandemic wiped out his final season at Georgia.
He was 2-0 with a 3.75 ERA at that point, and getting settled in, four starts into his junior season, during which he struck out 34 and walked three.
“Whenever we ended, that was the first weekend going into SEC play,” he said. “So that’s when you’re primed and you’re in the best shape possible heading into that season.”
Suddenly, it was all shut down, and Hancock, like so many others preparing to make the transition to professional baseball, was in a position of uncertainty. He got more clarity when the Mariners drafted him with their first-round pick — he’s the third right-handed power pitcher Seattle has taken with its top pick in as many years, joining Logan Gilbert (No. 14 overall in 2018) and George Kirby (No. 20 overall in 2019) — and added him to their player pool when summer camp opened in July.
“I tried to stay in shape as best I could,” Hancock said of the shutdown. “As the (college) season was over, I stuck on a throwing program about four or five times a week. I was lifting at least three times a week. We just didn’t really know what was going to happen next, so I tried to keep myself in the best shape possible.
“Then, when I got here we just kind of took things slow and made sure that everything was built up, ready to go, and that way maybe we could get some innings toward the end of the summer.”
The process has been slow since Hancock arrived with the rest of Seattle’s player pool at T-Mobile Park the first week of July, but the unique experience of working out with big leaguers his first few months as a professional pitcher has certainly been worthwhile.
“I’ve just been able to learn,” he said. “I think that’s the biggest thing going in, is you just kind of learn from all these guys. There’s so many good players. I mean, the first week of being a Mariner, I get to be at T-Mobile Park and I get to be across the locker room from Kyle Seager.
“That’s just an opportunity a lot of people don’t get, so (I’m) just having my eyes open, learning as much as I can, and watching these guys compete and having fun with it.”
It’s been tough to spend much of the summer watching instead of pitching, but Hancock has tried to take in as much information as he could, trying to make the transition to pro ball, even in such an odd year, as smooth as possible.
“You kind of get to see the game from a different lens, a different perspective, and you just kind of watch and learn as much as you can,” he said.
The Mariners are scheduled to wrap up camp at their alternate site at the end of the month when the Tacoma Defiance soccer club returns home. Hancock said in the time left, he is hoping to log a few more innings, perhaps in one of the intrasquad games played regularly at the site.
“I know I want to get back out there because I’ve got a lot of things I need to work on, and try to just build as much momentum as I can these next two or three weeks,” he said.
ROSTER MOVES
The Mariners placed shortstop J.P. Crawford on the bereavement list ahead of Friday’s series opener against the Diamondbacks in Phoenix as he tends to a family situation.
Utility player Donovan Walton was recalled from the traveling taxi squad to fill Crawford’s spot on the 28-man active roster.
Players placed on the bereavement list miss a minimum of three games and maximum of seven by rule, meaning Crawford will not return at least until the Mariners being their final homestand in Seattle on Monday.
Crawford has impressed throughout this short 60-game season with his spectacular defensive plays — he ranks fourth among all big league shortstops in Defensive WAR (3.1), per Fangraphs — and has made consistent offensive contributions as Seattle’s leadoff hitter with a .239/.339/.342 slash line through 41 games.
During Crawford’s absence, the Mariners could use a combination of Walton, and utility players Dee Strange-Gordon and Dylan Moore at shortstop, manager Scott Servais said pregame Friday. Strange-Gordon was listed as the starter for Friday’s game.
The Mariners also placed infielder Shed Long Jr. on the 10-day injured list Friday with a stress fracture in his right shin. Long is hitting 20for-117 (.171) with five doubles, three homers, nine RBI, four stolen bases, 11 walks and 37 strikeouts in 34 games this season primarily as Seattle’s second baseman.
Right-handed reliever Brady Lail was recalled from the traveling taxi squad in a corresponding move.
Seattle outrighted outfielder Mallex Smith to Triple-A on Friday, removing him from the 60-man player pool and opening up a spot on the 40-man roster, which is now at 37 players.
Smith opened the season with the Mariners hitting 6-for-45 (.133) with two runs scored, two doubles, three RBI, two walks and two stolen bases in 14 games before he was optioned to the alternate site on Aug. 18.
INJURY UPDATES
▪ Right-handed reliever Erik Swanson (right forearm strain) tossed a live BP session Friday afternoon in Tacoma and is nearing a return to the big league club. He has been on the IL since Aug. 17.
Swanson is 0-2 with a 15.19 ERA across six appearances with the Mariners this season.
“I think he really showed signs of uptick in his stuff while he was here,” Servais said. “I know he had a couple rough outings as far as getting through big innings. We were putting him in higher leverage situations, something he hadn’t done before, and he’s learning, he’s growing from it, so anxious to get him back.
“It sounds like he’s completely healthy with the way he’s throwing the ball. I’m sure we’ll see him here soon.”
▪ Right-handed reliever Brandon Brennan (left oblique strain) also threw to batters in Tacoma after spending some time rehabbing in Arizona. He was placed on the IL on July 26 after just one appearance.
This story was originally published September 11, 2020 at 5:27 PM.
