SEATTLE (AP) 鈥� By the time Emerson Hancock鈥檚 first start of the 2025 season ended, he
Once Hancock鈥檚 inaugural outing of 2026 concluded, though, a few very different figures lit up the scoreboard at T-Mobile Park.
Six innings.
No runs.
And most impressive 鈥� no hits.
Not only did the Seattle Mariners starter pick up his first win of the season Sunday in the Hancock also proved to himself in a very concrete way that he has made sizable steps forward since the spring of 2025.
After all, Hancock won a spot in the Mariners鈥� rotation in large part because of .
鈥淎 year ago, right now, we鈥檙e having a completely different conversation. Things went completely different,鈥� Hancock said with a laugh. 鈥淏ut, I think that鈥檚 just part of this game. And you鈥檙e going to struggle, there鈥檚 going to be ups, there鈥檚 going to be downs.鈥�
There were no 鈥渄owns鈥� to speak of Sunday, at least not according to the 30,800 fans on hand who rewarded the sixth overall pick in the 2020 amateur draft with a standing ovation after he worked a 1-2-3 sixth inning.
In the process, Hancock joined F茅lix Hern谩ndez as the only Mariners pitchers to strike out nine or more in a hitless outing of at least six innings. Hern谩ndez did so when throwing a perfect game in 2012.
Hancock鈥檚 nine strikeouts were a career high, a figure buoyed in large part by a four-seam fastball that generated nine swings-and-misses. Paired with a sweeper that Hancock spent a lot of time refining in the offseason, Hancock鈥檚 fastball kept Cleveland鈥檚 hitters off balance all evening.
鈥淵ou鈥檙e playing the speed game and the break game,鈥� Hancock said. 鈥淚t鈥檚 something slower, it鈥檚 something that is breaking a lot through the zone. And if you can throw it in the zone, it can help a ton. And then the heater for me, I鈥檓 just trying to see it as the mask and just kind of rip it.鈥�
Hancock effortlessly maneuvered through Cleveland鈥檚 lineup. The only baserunners the 26-year-old right-hander allowed came when he walked Jos茅 Ram铆rez in the first inning and hit CJ Kayfus with a fastball in the sixth.
But after six innings and 97 pitches, manager Dan Wilson decided Hancock was done, and there was no consideration to seeing if he could produce the seventh no-hitter in Mariners history.
鈥淲hat he did today was really good execution,鈥� Wilson said. 鈥淩eally hard to take a guy out after no hits, six innings. But, pitch count was where it was.鈥�
Guardians rookie Chase DeLauter lined a clean single leading off the seventh against reliever Cooper Criswell to break up Seattle鈥檚 bid for a combined no-hitter.
Across the board, Hancock鈥檚 velocity was down relative to last season, too. He and Wilson chalked that up in part to it being early in the season. It didn鈥檛 help that the temperature hung in the low 40s all game on a chilly late afternoon in the Pacific Northwest
As much as the elements may have shortened Hancock鈥檚 start, though, they only added to its brilliance. From the outset, third baseman Brendan Donovan was impressed with Hancock鈥檚 willingness to attack hitters, evidenced by the right-hander throwing first-pitch strikes to 12 of the 19 batters he faced, as well as not allowing a batted ball against him to leave the infield.
鈥淚 feel like he had confidence in everything that was coming out of his hand,鈥� Donovan said. 鈥淢ixing speeds, locations, high levels. Kind of in and out, down, everything seemed to be working for him.鈥�
Such an assessment could not be applied to Hancock鈥檚 first start of the 2025 season, one he ultimately finished coming out of the bullpen as Seattle鈥檚 starting rotation got healthier. But if Hancock can spin the ball the way he did Sunday more frequently, Wilson will have tougher decisions to make beyond whether he should keep the righty in the game.
鈥淲hat an incredible performance by Emerson Hancock,鈥� Wilson said. “It was impressive.鈥�
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