Bryce Miller injury could be good news for Mariners pitcher in no man's land

Though the Seattle Mariners aren't acting like Bryce Miller's oblique injury will compromise his ability to be ready for Opening Day, the tricky nature of such injuries behooves them to have a contingency plan. Which pretty much means that Emerson Hancock should be on standby mode.

This, to be sure, has been the right-hander's default for the last couple of years. This June will mark six years since the M's chose him sixth overall in the 2020 draft, yet 70 percent of his professional innings have come in the minors. It's hard to separate that from his 4.81 ERA in the majors.

With only one minor league option remaining, 2026 looks like a make-or-break season for Hancock as a member of the Mariners organization. And while he's surely not rooting for Miller's left oblique to keep him out of action, it could prove to be a repeat of what George Kirby's shoulder meant for Hancock last spring: a spot on the Opening Day roster.

But here's what makes this situation more interesting than a standard next-man-up roster scenario: Hancock is throwing the ball this spring like he's ready to prove something.

Emerson Hancock is opening eyes by throwing gas at Mariners camp

True, Hancock has allowed three runs in 4.1 innings this spring, resulting in a 6.23 ERA that looks decidedly, well, Hancock-ian. But he's also allowed just one hit and one walk apiece, and has fanned eight of the 16 batters he's faced.

Of those strikeouts, five have come on Hancock's four-seam fastball. See if you can spot the differences between that pitch this spring and that pitch during spring training last year:

Hancock is using the heater more than twice as often and throwing it 1.6 mph harder on average, and its whiff rate has doubled accordingly. He is, in a word, shoving.

There's more than just a small-sample-size caveat at play here. Baseball Reference puts the average quality of the opponents Hancock has faced at 8.0, equivalent to a standard Triple-A hitter. At first glance, that makes it look like he's punching below his weight.

Then again, Hancock is a Triple-A pitcher by Mariners standards. To this end, the more positive spin is that he's showing he's too good to be buried at Triple-A Tacoma when the Mariners break camp.

If anything, you wonder if Hancock could force himself into the Mariners' plans even if Miller gets healthy and blocks his path to a rotation spot. He did make six appearances in relief last year, in which he showed off not only improved velocity, but a nasty low-angle sweeper.

There would seem to be at least one spot in the bullpen up for grabs, and Casey Legumina being out of options doesn't necessarily mean he should be the favorite for it. Including Hancock off the bat could be how the Mariners roll with the best team they can, even if it would mean not keeping him stretched out with regular starts for Tacoma.

The big question either way is how long Hancock can keep dialing up the heat like he has been. But since he'll be 27 years old come May 31, you can hardly blame him if he doesn't want to leave anything to chance at this point.