Mariners' Emerson Hancock exits start with hand injury

ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. - Following his first pitch of the game Sunday, Mariners starter Emerson Hancock realized he'd made a mistake in judgment.

No, it wasn't the pitch selection or pitch location.

His fastball to Rays leadoff hitter Yandy Diaz was sent right back at him on a hard one-hopper. Instead of hoping that J.P. Crawford would make the play on the ball up the middle, Hancock instinctually stuck out his bare hand and tried to grab it.

He didn't. The ball hit off his hand and bounced behind him. Hancock scrambled after the ball and fired off balance to first base to get Diaz.

Obviously, you don't really want to ever reach with your hand, but at the time you're going off instincts," he said. "It's right there. It's so close to you, and then once you kind of deflect it and get it down, I wanted to go out and get that out."

But as the adrenaline of the moment wore off, he realized that the top of his palm and the area at the base of the middle finger was throbbing in pain. After being checked out by manager Dan Wilson and head athletic trainer Kyle Torgerson, Hancock remained in the game and retired the next two batters.

He started the bottom of the second after his teammates had given him a 3-0 lead in the top half of the inning. Hancock struck out Cedric Mullins and got Chandler Simpson to ground out to third. But it was clear the hand was starting to bother him.

"It really wouldn't get loose and I kept grabbing at it," he said. "At that point, it was probably the best for the team. You don't want to be a hindrance."

After walking Victor Mesa Jr. and continually flexing his right hand after pitches, Wilson and Torgerson went to the mound again. This time Hancock left the field.

"It just got a little bit tougher to control the ball as the at-bat went on," he said of the walk. "It was just really hard to grip. I kind of use that finger for a lot of certain pitches and it just wasn't cooperating."

As he exited the field, Hancock was extremely irritated with himself and the situation. His teammates had just scored three runs in the top half of the inning and now he was coming out.

"You just don't want to go out," he said. "It's the second inning in a game which we really wanted to win and kind of keep going. You don't want to have anybody go in there in the second inning and have a bullpen game the rest of the way."

Jose A. Ferrer was brought out of the bullpen in relief. He threw one pitch to get out of the second inning. It started a parade of five relievers that covered the next seven innings. The bullpen combined to allow two runs on four hits with two walks and six strikeouts.

"Our bullpen, what a job," Hancock said. "That's hard to do. I mean especially to get ready to go in there in the second inning and to pitch the way they did all the way through. That was awesome from those guys."

Hancock underwent X-rays and they came back negative. He doesn't think it will hinder him coming out of the All-Star break.

"Just try to get some rest on it, take a couple days off and see how it feels," he said. "Just the way the X-rays being like they were, I think everything's in a good spot. So let's just kind of see how the next couple days go."

Pitching plans

Wilson wasn't ready to announce how his rotation would slot out when the team comes out of the All-Star break and opens the second half with a three-game series vs. the Giants at T-Mobile Park.

"We're continuing to discuss that and will probably have that ironed out later today," Wilson said.

Presumably, the Mariners informed the starters of their rotation slots before Sunday's series finale in Tampa so they could adjust their All-Star break plans accordingly. Almost all planned to throw at least one bullpen during the break if not two.

Of course, the big question is whether they will use a six-man rotation or the piggyback strategy coming out of the break.

"We're looking at all different kinds of options and trying to figure that out so that we're ready to roll once we get out of it," Wilson said.

None of those discussed options include moving a starter to a full bullpen role for the second half.

"We have not done that as of yet," he said. "I wouldn't anticipate us doing that coming out of the break."

Seattle opens with six straight games at T-Mobile before an off day on July 23 followed by 10 games in 10 days, leading up to the August 3 MLB trade deadline. They could reasonably stay in a six-man rotation until then.

Also

All signs are pointing to Julio Rodríguez (concussion) being ready to return from the concussion injured list for the first game of the second half.

Brendan Donovan (groin strain) is in Arizona preparing for his rehab stint.

"He will start his rehab likely over the break as well," Wilson said. "So you know he won't be far behind (Rodríguez).

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This story was originally published July 12, 2026 at 4:49 PM.