Emerson Hancock Looks Like Seattle’s Next Young Star Pitcher

Via Baseball Savant

As you can see from the graphic above, the movement on Hancock’s pitches have improved almost cross the board. He is especially getting more downward movement (or drop) on his sweeper and sinker which has helped him avoid the middle of the one and produces more ground balls.

Last season Hancock used his sinker more than any other pitch. A 38% usage which resulted in a .297 batting average, .441 slugging percentage, and only a 10% whiff rate. This season, the sinker is only used at a 16% clip holding batters to a .211 average, .211 slugging percentage, and 11.5% whiff rate.

While the swing-and-miss is not much different, command of the pitch is. As you can see from the heat map above, Hancock, who is getting roughly four more inches of vertical movement, is locating the ball at the bottom of the zone better and missing the heart of the plate.

I’m sure going to the sinker less has helped it play up a bit more, which brings me to the second notable change: his pitch usage.

Last season, it was sinker (38%), four-seam (27%), changeup (20%), and slider (11%) with his sweeper and cutter falling under three percent.

The way he used this pitches was about what you would expect. The changeup and fastball were used heavily against lefties, paired with the sinker, sweeper, and slider that were used mostly against righties.

This year we have seen a dramatic pivot.

His pitch usage has changed to the following: four-seam (40%), sweeper (28%), sinker (16%), cutter (12%), and changeup (3%). The slider, which was a decent pitch for him last year, is now out of the equation and his sweeper is used as the primary breaking ball.

Not only is the frequency in which Hancock is throwing each pitch changing, but he is throwing every pitch to both righties and lefties. In 2025, he threw a total of three sweepers to lefties; he is already at 34 this season.

We have already seen a couple of back-foot sliders cause ugly swing from lefties, and I’m sure that trend will continue. Heck, uncomfortable swings have been a theme against Hancock this season. The unpredictability of what he is going to throw has grown, complicating at-bats for both lefties and righties.

Hancock’s swing-and-miss numbers have improved across the board. He had a 20% whiff rate last season, and he has increased that to 26% this year. Almost every pitch has seen an increase in whiff rate, most notably with his four-seam increasing by eight percent.

His success is a combination of a number of changes, from spin rate to pitch mix and command. He’s also getting ahead of batters, increasing his first-pitch strike rate by six percent. That has allowed him to creep outside of the zone to generate more swing-and-miss.

The changes have been encouraging and exciting to see for Seattle. But, the next question is the biggest: how sustainable is the strong start?

Can Hancock Sustain His Success?

The issue with diving into changes like this in April is not knowing how sustainable they will be. When a pitcher comes out mixing different pitches and attacking hitters in new ways, you do have some concern about the league adjusting.

For Hancock, I do think the success is repeatable. He has always managed to generate ground balls and has proven that he can still do so despite a decreased usage of his sinker. Ground-ball pitchers always provide a somewhat-safe pillow to fall back on.

Home runs have been an issue at times, and I think had a lot to do with his sinker catching the middle of the plate too often. His improved command leads me to believe the issue will not be as prevalent.

Of his 15 home runs surrendered in 2025, 12 came against lefties — five on a changeup and three on a sinker. We talked about his sinker, but what about his changeup? Well, the massive dropoff in how often he uses the pitch will naturally correct some of the issues.

Hancock struggled against lefties in 2025 to the tune of an .844 OPS. The changes he has made in the way he attacks lefties has helped him neutralize the split advantage and hold them to a .288 OPS across 29 plate appearances.

That sample is too small to make any declarations, but a massive trend is always noteworthly.

I see Hancock as a much better version of himself. It’s a combination of a more comfortable pitch mix with better feel, more movement, and improved command. The next question will come down to innings.

He threw 134 innings across two levels in 2025 and 104 innings the year prior. Is he ready to push that number past 150 in 2026? I’d say so.

Final Thoughts

Many “pitching labs” across the league get noticed for how often they maximize talent and develop arms, but Seattle has not garnered nearly enough attention. Hancock is lining up to be the next success story that is already several chapters long for the Mariners.

Hancock is not only a fun story, he’s an important piece to Seattle’s success. With Bryce Miller on the shelf and Logan Evans out for the year, the Mariners needed someone to step up in their rotation. Hancock has been exactly that and then some.