2:17pm: The Mariners announced that Hancock has been placed on the 15-day IL due to a shoulder strain. A timeline hasn’t yet been provided. Seattle has also reinstated shortstop J.P. Crawford from the injured list, recalled righty Darren McCaughan from Triple-A Tacoma and optioned infielder/outfielder Sam Haggerty to Tacoma.
12:20pm: Mariners righty Emerson Hancock left yesterday’s game — just the third start of his big league career — after two shutout innings due to what the team announced as a right shoulder strain. Ryan Divish of the Seattle Times writes that Hancock is likely headed to the injured list with a lat injury of some degree. The team hasn’t yet formally announced that move.
Hancock, 24, looked like he was breezing through his first two innings, holding the Astros scoreless and yielding just two hits with two strikeouts on 31 pitches. Manager Scott Servais told Divish and others after the game that Hancock felt something “grab” in his shoulder/lat during that second frame, however.
An injury to Hancock all but derails the Mariners’ plans to move to a six-man rotation before the arrangement ever got underway. Right-hander Bryan Woo is expected to return from the injured list this week, but his activation will now simply push Seattle back to five starters. He’ll join Luis Castillo, George Kirby, Logan Gilbert and Bryce Miller in Servais’ starting five.
The advent of a six-man rotation might have allowed the Mariners to more organically manage the workloads of young starters like Hancock, Kirby, Miller and Woo. The Mariners could still go the six-man route if they’re comfortable giving regular starts to righty Adam Oller or journeyman left-hander Tommy Milone down the stretch, but it’s not clear whether either of those scenarios is under consideration.
An injury to Hancock at this stage of the season is rather ill-timed. The former No. 6 overall draft pick (2020) was just getting his feet wet in the Majors, and he’d also only recently surpassed his total workload from the 2022 season. Hancock has thrown a career-high 110 innings this year, and the Mariners surely hoped to push that number a bit further in hopes of building him up for a larger workload in subsequent seasons. They may still get that chance, depending on the severity of the injury in question, but even a minimal stay on the injured list would sideline Hancock into early September and cost him a couple of starts.
The Mariners’ success in 2023 is largely attributable to both the quality and depth of their starting pitching staff. Seattle starters rank sixth in the Majors with a 3.86 ERA and are one of just three teams with 700-plus innings from their rotation at present, trailing only the Twins and Astros in that regard — and each by a margin of two or fewer innings. Had Hancock not incurred this injury, Mariners starters may well lead the big leagues in innings pitched.
Assuming the IL stint indeed goes through, Hancock will join southpaws Robbie Ray and Marco Gonzales on the shelf. Woo is also on the IL at the moment, though the expectation has been that he’ll return this week.
The Mariners have been baseball’s hottest team this month, churning out 14 wins against four losses. That follows up a similarly hot July, where their 17 wins were tied for the most in baseball. Dating back to July 1, the Mariners have played at an outstanding 31-13 clip. They’re now in possession of the third and final AL Wild Card spot and sit just three games back of the division lead in an increasingly tight AL West race.
Wow that didn’t take long.
It’s not the end of the world.
I wish Hancock the very best and hope the IL stay is a short one.
I think the Mariners will continue to thrive, and we’ll see Hancock later.
The five-man rotation is just normal.
Even if the Mariners were to go to a four-man rotation, they’d still have a fantastic rotation. This without having Ray and Gonzalez healthy either, it is an enviable place to be at.
This is a minimal move, why the upset?
Ever since your Mariners swept my Angels you guys have been on a roll. My Angels can’t get out their own way. They had a grand slam and executed a triple play in the same game and loss.
Arte will hopefully go to Home Depot and buy a new for sale sign this off season. This what we get when he hires his frat bros to run the team. I’m not making this up Carpino and Kuhl went to Arizona St along with Arte. All 3 ran the billboard company Arte sold.
lol…A past SeaHawks owner’s son thought he had a career as GM.
Big Dog and little Dog
Mariners have played .750 ball since Kelenic injured himself. Could it be the volatile nature of his personality is just too disrupt full for the dugout? Relax and have fun is part of a winning culture.
I think Kelenic is absolutely gone in the off season. Marlowe and Canzone have surpassed him for at bats next year.
No chance. JK’s ceiling is so much higher than either of those guys.
Kelenic is a .10 head case and the M’s should move onto one of their other OFs.
Well he hurt his team acting like an idiot so therefore trade him and get what you can for him. He would be a Pirate or a Rockie change of scenery type of candidate.
Exactly. Their best run of the season occurred without JK, so obviously they can do without him. This guy has talent, but talent alone rarely trumps a weak mentality, mood swings and a poor mindset.
They could keep all 3 of Marlowe, Canzone and Kelenic.
Kelenic is still 24 years old! Just because he was overhyped at 21 doesn’t mean he won’t continue improving for several more seasons like many younger hitters. (Marlowe and Canzone are each 26)
I wouldn’t be so sure. Kelenic has shown more upside than both of those guys and with Teoscar also likely gone in FA there will be need to carry all those OF bats next year. Kelenic has come a long way. Still has a ways to go but he carried them through the early part of the season and I dont think his (poorly managed) intensity has anything to do with how poorly everyone else including Julio played to start the year. He’ll have some competition in spring training for the starting job or heavy side of a platoon role – should be a fun one to watch!
Well said GVO
Oh no. You have no idea. Kelenic ceiling offensively and defensively is so far above both of Those two. I am glad that both are a
Part of the youth movement but Come On.
RDiddy75- you are crazy if you think the Mariners are getting rid of a kid as talented as JK. Teo is a FA at seasons end. The M’s need as many controllable hitters with THAT kind of upside as they can get. If they trade any players its from their Pitching Staff
Wampum- on the M’s lineup, my theory is the team is playing better now that the All Star Game is behind them. Players might not ever get another chance to play for their team in an All-Star Game in their home park.
We saw so many hitters look terrible in the first half- Julio, Teo, Cal, Geno they were all trying WAY too hard. Making bad swing decisions, flailing, off balance, think about how many SEA hitters were such easy outs in the first couple months. How many times did you think to yourself – “this doesn’t even look like the player we saw last year”
Just go with a 15 man starting rotation and put each pitcher on the IL following a start until their next start. 11 starts per year and you only take up one roster spot the entire season. Just because you can do it, doesn’t mean you should do it.
that would be a fun 40-man roster to manage
Not really that bad. Just stretch out all 15 starters to pitch CGs every time and you can free up 8-10 bullpen spots right there. Keep one long reliever, one mid reliever and one short reliever and have 17 starters on the 40 man. Most teams have 20 pitchers on the 40 right now. Could be interesting honestly, but again I say just because you can doesn’t mean you should.
Honestly, I like the plan. having to keep 15 starters that are somewhat viable might be the trickiest part, aside from the legality and all. Technically you can’t phantom IL a guy. then again, hire some guy to hit them with a 2×4 after each start and then they can have a definitive injury. Hell, some guys just need to carry luggage upstairs or sneeze really hard.
carry luggage upstairs is a euphemism for losing a bar fight.
if you know Mariners history….
Tricky at first, but when you consider that a lot of relievers are nothing more than failed starters, it becomes somewhat plausible. Teach relievers a third and fourth pitch in the low minors and teach them to hold back a little instead of trying to throw it through a brick wall every pitch.
What started out as a silly joke has really become a fun little thinking project for me.
This is why I love this place.
I would imagine a lot of the silly injuries that have been reported over the years are covering for players doing something stupid, dangerous, and/or illegal. Make the excuse sound so ridiculous that people will think that it couldn’t be made up. A lot easier than saying you got in a bar fight or punch a door or something.
I like the idea too. Maybe I’m thinking about it the wrong way, think I’m getting hung up on the one roster spot bit.
Maybe bring milone or mccaughan up for a spot start, till Woo gets back. Kinda handy that Hancock might be on the IL, not a good thing but he and Woo will switch places shortly.
I’m curious if his pitching through the inning is a sign his injury is less serious. Like, if it was real bad he’d have had to come out immediately?
The Mariners schedule is almost ridiculously soft over the next couple weeks. They’re due to cool off sooner or later, but as a Rangers fan I’m starting to get worried about these guys. Even with the tough break on Hancock they’ve got plenty of pitching.
Don’t worry, Seattle plays to its competition. Still gonna lose to chw and kc a few times.
Well since July 1 they have played 4 bad teams (Angels, Tigers, Royals, Padres) and they are 10-3 against them. Take away the Tigers and they are 9-1 against the others. They’ve been beating the bad teams and they’ve been beating the good teams over the last 2 months.
Yeah, but lets be honest about those 3 KC games. I mean a win is a win, but they weren’t pretty. I was more uptight watching Bobby Witt Jr take an at bat than Yordan Alvarez.
Bobby Witt Jr will win at least 1 MVP in his career. He’s KCs Julio.
Delusion is a serious illness. Since 7/1 the Ms are the second best offense in baseball behind the twins and are now in their second year of being a top 5 pitching staff. They are 31-13 over their last 44.
* braves
Meant Braves
You’re an interesting guy, LSJ.
Stevie, when you getting out? Is Trump also in jail? That orange jump suit of yours explains your attitude.
Of all the Mariners players, he has the largest signature on his contract.
8 potential quality starters next year. Seattle is a good place. I would trade for a position players but would demand a premium return.
“The Mariners have been baseball’s hottest team this month, churning out 14 wins against four losses.”
Aren’t the Dodgers like 17-2 in August?
I wonder if he meant AL