Seattle Mariners Pitcher Emerson Hancock Not Worrying About Future Role in Rotation
The injuries to the Seattle Mariners pitching staff look to finally be taking a turn for the better. George Kirby could be activated as soon as Thursday, there's optimism Bryce Miller's stay on the 15-day injured list could be minimal and Logan Gilbert is nearing a live bullpen session.
As that trio of pitchers return, there's several roster questions that will need to be resolved, including what will happen to the starters currently filling in for the Mariners.
Logan Evans and Emerson Hancock have been solid substitutes for the aforementioned injured starters. There's been reports that Seattle could consider a six-man rotation to avoid more injuries and continue to get valuable innings from Hancock and/or Evans. Even if the M's elect to go that route for now, Evans and Hancock don't have assured roles for the rest of the year.
"You take it one day at a time," Hancock said before a game against the Chicago White Sox on Monday. "And just put your best foot forward each time you go out there. Work as hard as you can, do everything you can to help the team win. Whatever happens, you keep moving forward. And you keep fighting, and you keep grinding and you keep trying to get better and that's the way I look at it and we'll keep doing that."
Hancock had a poor start to the season. He allowed six earned runs in 0.2 innings against the Detroit Tigers on March 31. Since then, Hancock has had three quality starts in six outings and has allowed three earned runs or less in five-of-six starts.
Emerson Hancock's 2Ks in the 2nd. ⛽️ pic.twitter.com/7qFZPdA5De
— Rob Friedman (@PitchingNinja) May 18, 2025
Hancock has been Seattle's de facto No. 6 starter for the better part of three years, and he's still improving. He reached a new career-high in velocity at 98 mph in his latest outing against the San Diego Padres on May 17.
The Mariners will take on the White Sox on Tuesday afternoon at 4:40 p.m. PT, with Hancock scheduled to pitch next in Houston against the Astros.
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