Emerson Hancock has turned a promising start into one of the sharper pitching storylines of the 2026 season. The Seattle Mariners right-hander has a 2.04 ERA so far this year, and the numbers behind it suggest the change is more than a short run of good luck.
Hancock, the sixth-overall selection in the 2020 draft, debuted in 2023 and posted a career-high 90 innings in 2025, when he had a 4.90 ERA, a 5.08 FIP and a 6.40 K/9. This season, he has cut that ERA nearly in half while also putting up a 2.45 FIP, a 9.68 K/9 and a 1.53 BB/9. For a pitcher whose major- and minor-league results before 2026 were seen as pedestrian for a player drafted that high, the jump has been hard to miss.
The change starts with his arm slot. Hancock’s arm angle was 27 degrees in 2024, dropped to 18 degrees in 2025 and has been 14 degrees so far in 2026. That lower slot has come with a different look to his repertoire, and the results have followed. Last season, his sinker was the centerpiece at 38% usage and allowed a.297 batting average with a.441 slugging percentage against, while generating just a 10% whiff rate. This year, he is using the sinker at a 16% clip, and hitters are batting.211 against it with a.211 slugging percentage, along with an 11.5% whiff rate.
The rest of the mix has shifted just as sharply. Hancock used a four-seam fastball 27% of the time last season, along with a 20% changeup, an 11% slider and a sweeper and cutter at under 3% each. This season, he is throwing the four-seam 40% of the time and the sweeper 28%, while the cutter is up to 12% and the changeup is down to 3%. He no longer uses the slider. The overhaul has given him a more aggressive, higher-ride look that has replaced last year’s more sinker-heavy plan.
The Mariners have spent recent seasons developing pitchers into reliable major leaguers, with Logan Gilbert, George Kirby, Bryan Woo and Bryce Miller all becoming part of that run. Hancock is trying to join them. The difference now is that he is no longer waiting for his draft status to catch up with his results. He is pitching like someone whose adjustments have finally started to hold.
