The Mariners have promoted right-handed pitcher Emerson Hancock from Triple-A, the team announced this afternoon. To make room on the active roster, Seattle designated catcher Seby Zavala for assignment.
Hancock will take the ball this evening against the Rangers, filling in for an injured Luis Castillo. Castillo landed on the 15-day IL with a Grade 2 left hamstring strain following his start last Sunday. After officially placing Castillo on the IL on Tuesday, the Mariners did not need to add another starting pitcher to the active roster until today, so they selected Zavala’s contract instead. He did not appear in a game. Presuming Zavala passes through waivers, he will most likely accept an outright assignment to Triple-A Tacoma. The Mariners have already DFA’d and outrighted him twice this season.
The 25-year-old Hancock is back for his fourth stint with the big league club this season. Over nine starts, he has pitched to a disappointing 4.76 ERA and 5.14 SIERA in 45 1/3 innings pitched. Unfortunately, the young right-hander hasn’t looked much better at Triple-A. He has a 4.66 ERA and 5.78 FIP in 10 starts (56 IP) since his most recent demotion. As was his biggest problem last year, he has had tremendous difficulty earning strikeouts against Triple-A and MLB competition, and he isn’t limiting walks or hard contact as much as needs to if he’s going to survive with such a low strikeout rate.
More to come…