Emerson Hancock goes toe-to-toe with Jacob deGrom as Mariners edge out Rangers, 3-2

Hancock looks sharp in second-to-last spring tuneup

With the likelihood of George Kirby starting the season on the IL increasing with every passing day, each Emerson Hancock start takes on extra importance, especially today’s, where he faced the lefty-heavy, offensive powerhouse of the AL West rival Rangers. Hancock outdueled Rangers ace Jacob deGrom, striking out one more batter, issuing one fewer walk, and giving up one fewer run than the All-Star in the opposite dugout.

The one run Hancock gave up was a mistake pitch in an 0-2 count to Corey Seager. Hancock tried to sneak a slider past Seager that wound up in his red zone, and then wound up deposited on the berm in right field. Hancock was frustrated with the miss in location.

“He’s a good hitter, he’s been doing it a long time, and you can’t throw those pitches there,” said Hancock. “He’s going to make you pay more times than not.”

Other than that, it was a good outing for Hancock, who topped out at 95 mph on his sinker. He worked in his secondaries starting in the second inning, mixing in his changeup, which got some weak contact and some whiffs, including a swinging strikeout to Adolis García in the third (his other strikeouts were all on the fastball or sinker).

Hancock leaned heavily on his new sweeper as his main secondary against the lefty-heavy Texas lineup.

“It gives me another option for a first pitch strike, and it gives me another option for a two-strike pitch that you can bury below the zone,” said Hancock.

“Emerson threw the ball really well,” said manager Dan Wilson. “Kept attacking the zone, got the pitches in there when he needed to, mixed in his off-speed, looked really, really good. Another good outing for him to stack up on the other ones he’s had.”

After Hancock gave up the homer to Seager, the Mariners got that run right back in the bottom of the inning. Jorge Polanco worked a good at-bat against Rangers starter Jacob deGrom, seeing seven pitches. Early in the at-bat, Polanco had an ugly half-swing at a slider; four pitches later, deGrom tried the slider again, but left it middle-in for an answer-back solo home run, continuing Polanco’s solid spring.

The Mariners broke the tie in the fourth, small-balling a run against deGrom after Polanco led off with a walk, Cal Raleigh singled on the fastball, Randy Arozarena hit a parachute single on the slider, and Rowdy Tellez popped the first slider he saw into the outfield for a sacrifice fly. It could have been a bigger inning, but Arozarena inexplicably ran to second, where a solid throw from Adolis Garcia nailed him for the out.

In the fifth, with deGrom still pitching, J.P. Crawford made sure his day would be deDone:

We’ll go ahead and give J.P. today’s Sun Visor award for that one.

The Rangers got a run back in the seventh off Jesse Hahn with some small ball of their own, as García singled, stole second, and moved to third on a Josh Jung single; he scored on a fielder’s choice to make it 3-2. But the Mariners bullpen held; Trent Thornton pitched a 1-2-3 inning, ending on a strikeout of Nick Ahmed; Eduard Bazardo worked around a double and got some defensive help to post a zero; and Shintaro Fujinami also worked a scoreless inning despite walking the leadoff hitter on four sinkers, all 97-98 mph, none of which were anywhere near the zone.

After the walk, though, Fujinami dialed things back in, dropping his velocity but improving his command. He got a harmless flyout on what Statcast called a 91.4 mph sinker, and a groundout on the same pitch before getting the final out of the game on an 85 mph pitch that Statcast labeled a slider but was probably a split. Fujinami is one of the most interesting arms in camp, and the pitching staff has been working with him intently to rein in his command and help harness the talent in his arm.

Other notes:

• He got wiped out on a double play to end the inning, but Cal Raleigh also had a nice at-bat right after Polanco’s homer, working an eight-pitch walk.
• Miles Mastrobuoni continued his strong spring with a single in the third inning off deGrom, but he was also wiped away by a double play. Mariners hitters and GIdeGroms is a pairing I am not looking forward to this season.
• Like Casey Lawrence the other day, Hancock generates a lot of ground balls and therefore several opportunities for the infield defense. Polanco was a bit wobbly on his first try at third, a routine groundout from Higashioka; his throw pulled Rowdy Tellez off the base at first, but to his credit, the big man showed some good flexibility and was able to stretch back for the force.

Tellez also had a nice snag on a lineout at first. Being able to play first base gives Tellez more versatility, and strengthens his case for making the Opening Day roster even further.

• No defensive concerns here: in the seventh inning, Miles Mastrobuoni took a hit away from Leody Taveras with a diving grab in center field.
• Leo Rivas also had a nice defensive play to bail Eduard Bazardo out of some trouble in the eighth after he gave up a double and preserve the Mariners’ lead at 3-2.