Emerson Hancock likely will remain on the injured list for most, if not all, of the Mariners' upcoming road trip.
SEATTLE — The Seattle Mariners still have a sliver of a chance to make the playoffs (5.3%, per FanGraphs), and have a must-win game on deck in the rubber match of a three-game set against the Texas Rangers on Thursday at T-Mobile Park.
Once the Mariners wrap up that series, they'll begin a nine-game road trip consisting of respective three-game series against the Athletics, Los Angeles Angels and Colorado Rockies.
Unfortunately for Seattle, it looks like it will be without one of its starting pitchers for most, if not all, of that nine-game road trip.
Mariners starting pitcher Emerson Hancock has been on the 15-day injured list with a left adductor strain since Aug. 30 (retroactive to Aug. 29). He last threw in a start against the Toronto Blue Jays on Aug. 28, where he struck out one batter, hit another and allowed five earned runs on eight hits (two home runs) in five innings pitched.
Hancock threw a bullpen during Seattle's current homestand, and the results weren't necessarily what he, or the team would have hoped.
Per a pregame interview with Mariners manager Dan Wilson, Hancock "still did feel it occasionally" during the hurler's bullpen. The team will continue to monitor how he feels and responds physically over the next several days.
If Hancock does respond well, the next step will be another bullpen, which would take place on the road at either Sutter Health Park in Sacramento, Calif., or Angel Stadium in Anaheim, Calif.
This would likely mean the earliest Hancock would be able to return is either at the end of the series against the Angels or during the series against the Rockies.
There's also a question if Hancock will be returning to the starting rotation when he is healthy to pitch again.
Due to the minor league seasons for all affiliates at or near an end, and the regular season two-and-a-half weeks away from concluding, Seattle doesn't have the opportunity nor the time to send Hancock on rehab assignments. This could lead the Mariners to moving Hancock to the bullpen as to not reaggravate the injury.
"I think anything's possible," Wilson said in a pregame interview Thursday at T-Mobile Park. "We're making sure he's healthy first. ... (Then we'll understand) how to plug him in, how to get him back, either in the rotation or a different role. But just got to get him healthy first."
Hancock is in the midst of a career-best season. The fourth-year major leaguer has posted a 3.57 ERA with 126 strikeouts in 138.2 innings pitched across 25 starts.
