MLB Network’s Chris Sale comp says it all about Emerson Hancock’s Mariners leap

Emerson Hancock’s breakout is not a side quest anymore. We’re in June now, and it feels a lot less reckless to give him his flowers than it did a month ago. We also don’t have to pretend Hancock is suddenly Chris Sale just because Al Leiter said so on the MLB Network.  

The Sale comparison is not a random name-drop. Al Leiter’s breakdown centered on Hancock’s changed arm slot, and that’s where the comp starts to make sense. Hancock is throwing from a much lower angle than before, giving hitters a different look and making his arsenal harder to track. That new angle may be playing a huge role in his production this season. 

His strikeout rate has jumped by 8.5 percentage points from 2025 to 2026, and his average arm angle now sits at 12.2 degrees, the second-lowest mark among MLB starters. Sale is at 10.5 degrees. So, the comparison is not completely ridiculous.

Some fans are probably going to hear that and immediately start arguing about it. Sale is a Cy Young-winning monster with a decade-plus of proof. While Hancock is still building the résumé.

His stuff is not identical to Sale’s. And the comp may be a bit aggressive. But the fact that he’s pushed himself into a conversation like this tells us where the shape of his game is right now. That alone is a massive win.

Emerson Hancock’s new look is forcing the Mariners to rethink his ceiling

Hancock has always had enough talent to make people continue to check back in. The problem has always been that his previous version didn’t create enough discomfort. He could throw strikes and his command was normally solid. But he rarely missed enough barrels, and for a while, he felt more like a safe innings-eater for the Mariners whenever another starter went down.

It would be foolish to say this is all about the arm slot. Hancock has also seen a bump in velocity, changed his pitch mix a bit, and started working his sweeper more effectively off the fastball and sinker. All of that keeps hitters off balance. But when you add in the lower arm slot, those same shapes start to play with a different kind of life. That is where everything comes together: more velocity, better sequencing, a tougher look and a whole lot more deception.

That’s where the Sale comparison makes sense, but only conceptually. Not ruling out a Cy Young Award. But really, Hancock has a ways to go. 

If you look at the two guys in a side by side comparison. Sale’s stuff definitely still plays better. He has 80 strikeouts over 67 innings to Hancock's 70 over 70.2 innings. Hancock has also allowed four more home runs, 10 to Sale’s six. But you can kind of gloss over the home run issue since nine of them were solo shots.

Regardless, the Mariners aren’t looking for Hancock to cosplay a lefty ace. They already have enough front-line pitching names. What they need is exactly what he is becoming: a legitimate rotation piece who gives them a different look, misses bats and makes the staff feel unfairly deep again.

Add us as a preferred source on Google

Follow