SEATTLE — The Seattle Mariners are currently in their best stretch of the season. Entering Monday, before game one of a three-game set against the New York Mets, the M's are winners of six straight and have pulled off two consecutive series sweeps against the Athletics and Arizona Diamondbacks, respectively.

The Mariners are 2.5 games ahead of the Athletics and Texas Rangers for first place in the American League West.

Seattle will look to strengthen its hold of the division and extend its win streak to seven games against New York, and a Mariners starting pitcher Emerson Hancock will be the hurler tasked with keeping the Mets lineup in check.

Hancock is in the midst of his best season in the majors. Before his start against the Mets, Hancock had a 2.78 ERA and had struck out 63 hitters in 64.2 innings pitched across 11 starts. He has the best ERA on the rotation and is third on the team in strikeouts, behind Logan Gilbert (69) and Bryan Woo (68), who both have one more start than him.

Hancock is among the top of the majors in highest margin of improvement in his strikeout rate. In 2025, the former George Bulldog's strikeout rate was 16.6%, which ranked in the ninth percentile of baseball, per Baseball Savant. His walk rate was also 8.1%, which ranked in the 46th percentile off major league pitchers.

This season, Hancock's strikeout rate is up to 25.1% (69th percentile) and his walks rate is down to 6% (86th percentile), per Baseball Savant.

Rather than introduce anything new to his arsenal or looking for a "magic" fix to repertoire, Hancock approached this offseason with focus on refining what he already had. He slightly tweaked his arm angle (18 degrees in 2025 to 12 degrees in 2026) and worked on his command and control.

This season, Hancock's four-seam fastball is one of the most effective pitches in baseball. He has a fastball run value of 13, which ranks in the 99th percentile of the major leagues. Opposing hitters are averaging just .169 against his four-seamer. He's generated a whiff rate of 27.2% with it and a put-away rate of 23.1%.

With his fastball working at a high level, Hancock has been able to work his secondary pitches off of it. Opposing batters are averaging just .162 and .150 against his sweeper and cutter, respectively. He has a whiff rate of 35.5% and a put-away rate of 18% with his sweeper. His cutter has a whiff rate of 32.7% and a put-away rate of 13.3%.

"A lot can be said about mindset, in terms of Emerson," Seattle manager Dan Wilson said in a pregame interview Monday. "We've talked about that a lot with all our guys on the mound. I think that's where they really play into each other and really help each other out. I think that's an awesome environment to have. ... I think the development of his sweeper and the confidence that he's gained in that and his ability to attack the strike zone, a lot of that predicated on his mindset.

"But all those things has really helped his confidence to grow and he just seems like he continues to go out there and attack and be on the offensive and it's worked really, really well for him."

Hancock's development to the current version of himself took longer than his teammates and fellow starters, including George Kirby (2023 All-Star), Logan Gilbert (2024 All-Star) and Bryan Woo (2025 All-Star). But, if Hancock continues at his current pace, the wait could well prove worth it for him and a Mariners team that is finally starting to look like the contenders many thought they would be entering this season.

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