PEORIA, Ariz. — In 2020, Emerson Hancock was the sixth overall pick by the Mariners. He showed promise last season after being called up.
Hancock made three starts for the Mariners before he suffered a shoulder injury. Now he's healthy again and looking great at Spring Training.
"Last year getting injured in the way that it did, that puts a lot of motivation into this year, and I had a longer offseason that a lot of people did you know, once I was able to finish rehab, I feel like I was able to put myself in a good spot," Hancock said. "Put a ton of work in in the weight room in the offseason, but a really a lot of work just kind of pitching and working on these small things, trying to make everything a little bit better, a little bit sharper and try to put myself in a good position in camp."
Hancock pitched two scoreless innings Saturday and had three strikeouts in a spring training outing. Despite being in the shadows of the starting five, Hancock told manager Scott Servais he wants to crack the Opening Day roster for the Mariners.
He's fighting for a roster spot but at the same time, he loves being surrounded by so many great pitchers.
"It's awesome, just the group you have, you don't have this everywhere," Hancock said. "I mean, this is special. It really is just the guys, the people how willing they are to help you out. I think you kind of seen it. We all like to watch each other through a guy's got a bullpen, if a guy has a live, let's go watch this guy throw and then I'll go get the rest of my stuff done. It's just it's cool."