PEORIA, Ariz. — Unlike some of his peers, Emerson Hancock’s offseason work on a new pitch didn’t make waves on social media. His early bullpen sessions didn’t generate buzz, and without direct questions or MLB Statcast data, he might not have even mentioned it.
Now, Hancock joins the growing list of Mariners pitchers debuting a new offering this spring—a sweeper slider.
“You have to have all of them, right?” he said.
In his second Cactus League start, Hancock leaned heavily on the pitch. But this isn’t just an extra tool in his arsenal—it’s a crucial addition if he hopes to continue developing at the MLB level.
Since being selected sixth overall in the COVID-shortened 2020 MLB Draft, Hancock has been searching for a reliable breaking ball to generate more swings and misses. After experimenting with various grips and breaking ball variations over multiple seasons, he believes he’s found the right fit to complement his existing slider, which has more vertical movement.
“I had one that dropped more, and now I’ve got the sweeper with more horizontal action,” Hancock explained.
What makes this new pitch easier to incorporate is that it’s just a slight grip adjustment from his previous slider.
“It’s a small shift on the seam,” he said. “I still spike both of them (index finger positioned against the seam), but it’s just about where the ball rotates when I throw it.”
Last season, Hancock threw his slider 167 times—16.5% of his total pitches. Opposing hitters batted .300 and slugged .600 against it, with three home runs. While it generated whiffs 31.7% of the time, it wasn’t an effective put-away pitch.
The hope is that the new sweeper, with its increased horizontal movement, will play well alongside his improved two-seam fastball.
“It’s something that’s been missing,” Hancock said. “I think it adds another dimension, especially when throwing away to right-handers and then mixing in the sinker. I think it’ll help a lot.”
During Saturday’s game against the White Sox, Hancock tested the sweeper against right-handed hitters with some success. MLB Statcast categorized 12 of his pitches as sliders but didn’t differentiate between the two variations.
Against Wilfred Veras, Hancock started with his traditional slider for a called strike, which had three inches of vertical movement and six inches of horizontal break. He followed with two sweepers—one inducing a swinging strike with 11 inches of horizontal break, and another with 14 inches that froze Veras for a called strike three.
“My goal is to start the sweeper over the middle, on the same line as my sinker to right-handers,” Hancock said. “Then let it break away while I throw the sinker inside, creating that crisscross effect.”
Hancock, currently sixth on Seattle’s organizational depth chart, stepped in multiple times last season when Bryan Woo and Luis Castillo landed on the injured list. Across 12 starts, he went 4-4 with a 4.79 ERA.
In most organizations, he’d likely have a locked-in rotation spot, but in Seattle, he finds himself behind a deep group of starters—including some of his closest friends. Despite this, Hancock embraces his role without complaint. Known as one of the most well-liked players in the clubhouse, he takes a team-first approach.
“It’s easy to be a good teammate here,” he said. “We’ve got great guys, and it’s fun to be part of this group. But at the same time, I know there are things I need to improve on. It’s about taking it day by day—what can I do today, tomorrow, in my next start? If you keep working, hopefully, you get to where you want to be.”
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