Emerson Hancock pitched six innings of no-hit ball and struck out a career-high nine Sunday in the Mariners’ 8-0 shutout of the Guardians.
It was actually kind of concerning to see Hancock’s velocity drop tonight. He averaged a much-improved 94.9 mph with his four-seamer last year and was up to 95.4 mph this spring, but he was down to 93.5 mph tonight. Nevertheless, the Guardians simply couldn’t touch him. Their one hard-hit ball turned into a double play. The remaining seven balls in play against him were five other groundouts and two popups. Between the velocity drop and the most 24% CSW, it’s hard to be too excited about the showing tonight. Still, he’ll always be a streaming option whenever he’s starting at home. Unfortunately, he’ll be on the road against the Angels next weekend, and he might be in line for only a couple of more starts before Bryce Miller returns.