Mariners RHP Hancock exits after taking comebacker off his hand

Starting pitcher Emerson Hancock exited in the second inning of the Seattle Mariners’ 8-2 win over the Tampa Bay Rays on Sunday after taking a hard comebacker off the middle finger of his throwing hand in the previous inning.

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Hancock told reporters after the game that X-rays on his finger were negative and that he plans to take full advantage of the extra rest afforded by the All-Star break. The Mariners are off the next four days before resuming play Friday.

“I think just kind of let it settle down for a couple days, and in my mind I think everything should be fine,” Hancock said.

On Hancock’s first pitch of the game, Rays leadoff man Yandy Díaz hit a 107.2 mph one-hopper right back at him. Hancock instinctually tried to barehand the ball, but it bounced off his hand and trickled behind the mound. He raced back to retrieve it and threw out Díaz at first.

“Obviously, you don’t really want to ever reach with your (bare) hand, but at the time, you’re going off instinct,” Hancock said. “It’s right there, it’s so close to you. And then once you kind of deflect it and get it down, I wanted to go and get that out.”

After being evaluated by head athletic trainer Kyle Torgerson and manager Dan Wilson, Hancock initially remained in the game and retired the next four batters.

But as Hancock’s finger continued to swell, it became hard to control the ball. Following another mound visit from Torgerson and Wilson, Hancock exited after issuing a two-out walk in the second.

“It just got a little bit tougher to control the ball as the at-bat went on,” Hancock said. “Just really hard to grip. I kind of use that finger for a lot of certain pitches, and it just wasn’t cooperating.”

Jose A. Ferrer replaced Hancock and was one of six relievers who combined for 7 1/3 innings of two-run ball.

“Our bullpen, what a job,” Hancock said. “That’s hard to do, especially to get ready to go in there in the second inning. And to pitch the way they did all the way through, that was awesome from those guys.”

Hancock, a 2020 first-round draft pick, has experienced a breakout season. He has a 3.17 ERA in 18 starts, with 94 strikeouts and 25 walks over 99 1/3 innings.

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