Emerson Hancock to start for Seattle Mariners against Chicago, Dylan Moore activated
SEATTLE - The Seattle Mariners activated infielder Dylan Moore off the paternity list, and called up right-handed pitcher Emerson Hancock from Triple-A Tacoma to start Thursday's series finale against the Chicago White Sox.
Infielder Leo Rivas and right-handed reliever Brett de Geus were optioned to Triple-A Tacoma to clear roster spots for Moore and Hancock.
Hancock, 25, will make his eighth start of the season for the Mariners after opening the season in the major league rotation. Hancock has a 3-3 record in seven prior starts with a 5.24 ERA. He's thrown 34 ⅓ innings with 11 walks and 23 strikeouts.
The spot start for Hancock allows the Mariners to give their starting rotation an extra day of rest and line up Luis Castillo, George Kirby and Logan Gilbert to face the second-place Texas Rangers this weekend.
"With all the games we've played and kind of where we're at with our starting rotation, with Bryan Woo out of the rotation early, we thought it would be a good time to you insert Emerson, give him a start," manager Scott Servais said. "He has been thrown the ball great in Triple-A. Did a really nice job when he was up with us early in the season and allows us to give some of our other guys an extra day of rest. So looking for him to give us great effort tonight."
Woo was scratched from his scheduled start on Tuesday due to soreness in his throwing arm. However, an MRI showed no significant issues and Woo is expected to rejoin the rotation next week without a stint on the injured list.
Hancock didn't make it further than four innings in either of his final two starts with Seattle before Woo returned to the rotation in early May. He allowed five runs (only one earned) in 3 ⅔ innings with four walks and four strikeouts against Atlanta, and four runs in four innings with two walks and no strikeouts at Minnesota.
The Mariners' bullpen is a bit thin for Thursday night with Andrés Muñoz still dealing with a lingering back issue as well. Servais said they need Hancock to pitch deep into the game against the White Sox.
"I think he had some outings that were really good," Servais said of Hancock's start to the year. "I think once he got to understanding how effective his two-seam fastball can be when he's super aggressive early in counts, forcing contact, they typically hit it on the ground. We need to play really good defense tonight. There will be a lot of ground balls and when he does that and make plays behind them, he's able to get deep in the ball game."
Moore went on the paternity list on Monday and has missed the last three games. He's back in the lineup and will bit second and play third base.
Rivas appeared in one game as a pinch-runner during his call-up, and de Geus did not make an appearance during his time up from Tacoma.
