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Mariners call up former top prospect to address Luis Castillo injury

With Luis Castillo going on the injured list, the Mariners needed to call up a pitcher, and they've decided to go with a former top prospect to take his place

Sep 8, 2024; St. Louis, Missouri, USA; Seattle Mariners starting pitcher Luis Castillo (58) throws against the St. Louis Cardinals during the first inning at Busch Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Jeff Le-Imagn Images
Sep 8, 2024; St. Louis, Missouri, USA; Seattle Mariners starting pitcher Luis Castillo (58) throws against the St. Louis Cardinals during the first inning at Busch Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Jeff Le-Imagn Images | Jeff Le-Imagn Images

Things got tougher for the Mariners last week when Luis Castillo left the game early with an injury. News came out that it was bad enough that he was going to have to miss time and the Mariners ended up putting him on the IL. With a sudden hole in their rotation, the Mariners were going to need to call someone up to replace him, and went with a former top prospect to fill his spot.

Yup, Emerson Hancock got the call-up once more for the Mariners, this time to fill the void by Luis Castillo. It's going to be his 13th MLB start, and we've seen a wide array of starts from Hancock over that time. He's put together a 4.71 ERA, but you never know what you are going to get from him. In a three start stretch earlier this year, Hancock went 18 innings, giving up four earned runs on just ten hits and three walks.

He's seemed to have a bit of good luck though with a .264 BABIP against him, but at the same time showing a propensity for getting hit hard when opponents make contact. His average exit velo has been 88.5 mph, right in line with league average. However, his hard hit rate (balls with an exit velo above 95 mph) is at 46.1%, which is 6.8% above-average. There are very few average balls that come off the bat against Hancock. It's either soft-contact or a rocket, and seemingly nowhere in between.

That wasn't the only move that the Mariners made though. They brought up Seby Zavala the other day, for reasons still unknown. Maybe it was to give a quick breath to Cal, except that he didn't even plat. Either way, Zavala just hasn't done anything for the Mariners this season. I mention Zavala because the Mariners sent him down in a corresponding move, which was also noted in the tweet insert above.

He's actually going to be starting right away as well, as he will be taking the mound in Friday's game against Jacob DeGrom, who ironically, just came off of the injured list and will be making his first start in quite a while. It's a big task for Hancock, and the Mariners are going to need his best in order to have a shot at winning tonight against the Rangers.

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