Reading Time: 4 minutes

POSTED: No. 4 — Logan Gilbert, RHP
POSTED:
No. 5Noelvi Marte, SS/3B
POSTED:
6-11 — Three arms, a speedy outfielder, and the catcher
POSTED: 11-20 — Upside and heat
POSTED: 21-30 — Highlighted by young CF, relief help
POSTED: 31-40 — Five Arms and power upside


Saturday: No. 2, No. 1
Monday, March 1:
Best Tools
Tuesday, March 2:
How many Mariners prospects would be No. 1 elsewhere?
Wednesday March 3: 
Projected 2024 Lineup, Rotation, Bullpen


3. Emerson Hancock, RHP
Hancock has yet to throw a professional pitch but entered last spring as the favorite to go No. 1 overall in the draft. A few hiccups along the way pushed him down to the Mariners at No. 6, including two below-average starts of the four he made before his season was shut down in March. He also suffered a Lat strain in April his sophomore year, finishing unevenly.

There are questions about his fastball, but not significant concerns; it’s a natural-sinking fastball he throws with plane and has yet to learn to attack the top of the zone in order to get more swings and misses from the pitch. But he’s comfortably 93-95 mph and up to 99 and generates some run to his arm side, which helps set up his secondaries.

His best offspeed stuff includes an above-average changeup that flashes plus or better and can generate whiffs as he buries it off the fastball, and a sharp slider that darts down and away from right-handed batters and at the back foot of lefties.

His curveball projects well, but like Gilbert it’s not likely to become an out pitch, instead a good weapon early in counts and versus left-handed bats to keep them off the straight stuff.

Hancock is a superior athlete with a fluid, repeatable delivery, finishing strong and inline from a slightly-below three quarters arm slot. He stays closed and employs his lower half well, generating an aggressive, long stride toward the plate, yet stays on top well to keep everything on plane or with downward break.

His sound mechanics help him throw strikes with his entire arsenal, and pitch effectively to both sides of the plate with the fastball. His plus control should lead to with plus command.

Hancock profiles as a very good No. 3, but there’s a relatively strong chance he ends up a No. 2 with some dominant traits, including two out pitches and a fastball capable of generating ground balls as well as swings and misses when he attacks at or above the hands.

If things work out right, Hancock is a strikeout pitcher with some solid-average ground ball tendencies, though some of the latter could be tempered by the club’s attempts to get more from his velocity high in the zone.

Hancock probably headed for Everett to start 2021 and with some workload limits, but I expect him to move quickly through the middle of the minors and put himself in the big-league conversation in a year, year and a half, suggesting Opening Day 2023 is a real possibility, sans service time manipulation.

ETA: 2023

MLB COMPS

CEILING: Carlos Carrasco
MEDIAN: 
Pete Harnisch
FLOOR:
Jeremy Guthrie

While Hancock and Carrasco are built differently now, there are some similarities in body, style, and especially (potential) performance.

Carrasco uses a two-seamer to mix up the fastball and gain varying movement, something Hancock does, at present, with the four-seamer, but both pitchers use slider-changeup before curveball, but have the slower of the two breakers in their hip pocket.

Carrasco has three 5-win seasons despite being unable to remain fully healthy most of his prime, so keep that in mind when wondering if Carrasco is the right comp. There’s 6-win upside here with Hancock.

His edge over Gilbert is minimal, but real, despite the No. 4 prospect holding edges in present probability and ETA, as well as projected fastball value. Hancock carries more ceiling, yet not a lot more risk in spite of all of the above. He’s a better athlete, too, and even with the 2020 MiLB season being canceled got deeper into his development sooner than did Gilbert.

TOOLS

FB SL CB CH CO OFP
60 (93-97) 60 (80-84) 50+ (76-79) 60+ (83-86) 60 56.5

NO PLAYER POS ETA BEST TOOL 2021
4 Logan Gilbert RHP 2021 FASTBALL AAA/MLB
5 Noelvi Marte SS 2023 POWER A/A+
6 George Kirby RHP 2023 COMMAND A+/AA
7 Taylor Trammell LF 2021 HIT AAA/MLB
8 Cal Raleigh C 2021 POWER AAA/MLB
9 Brandon Williamson LHP 2023 FASTBALL A+/AA
10 Isaiah Campbell RHP 2023 FASTBALL A/A+
11 Juan Then RHP 2022 FASTBALL A+/AA
12 Zach DeLoach CF 2023 HIT A+
13 Jonatan Clase CF 2025 RUN A/A+
14 Austin Shenton 3B 2022 HIT AA
15 Sam Carlson RHP 2024 FASTBALL R/A
16 Andres Munoz RHP 2021 FASTBALL AAA/MLB
17 Connor Phillips RHP 2023 FASTBALL R/A
18 Levi Stoudt RHP 2023 FASTBALL A/A+
19 Jake Fraley OF 2021 HIT AAA/MLB
20 Milkar Perez 3B 2024 HIT R/A
21 Ljay Newsome RHP 2021 COMMAND AAA/MLB
22 Anthony Misiewicz LHR 2021 CURVEBALL MLB
23 Will Vest RHR 2021 FASTBALL MLB
24 George Feliz CF 2025 HIT R
25 Braden Bishop CF 2021 FIELD AAA/MLB
26 Yohan Ramirez RHR 2021 SLIDER AAA/MLB
27 Joey Gerber RHR 2021 FASTBALL AAA/MLB
28 Adam Macko LHP 2024 CURVEBALL A/A+
29 Wyatt Mills RHR 2021 FASTBALL AAA/MLB
30 Sam Delaplane RHR 2021 CURVEBALL AAA/MLB
31 Carter Bins C 2023 FIELD A+/AA
32 Alberto Rodriguez OF 2024 HIT A
33 Aaron Fletcher LHR 2021 SLIDER AAA/MLB
34 Kaden Polcovich 2B 2023 HIT A/A+
35 Damon Casetta-Stubbs RHP 2024 FASTBALL A/A+
36 Michael Limoncelli RHP 2025 CURVEBALL R
37 Kristian Cardozo RHP 2026 CURVEBALL R
38 Starlin Aguilar OF 2026 POWER R
39 Tyler Keenan 1B 2023 POWER A/A+
40 Taylor Dollard RHP 2023 CHANGEUP A
The following two tabs change content below.

Jason A. Churchill

Churchill founded Prospect Insider in 2006 and spent several years covering prep, college and pro sports for various newspapers, including The News Tribune and Seattle PI. Jason spent 4 1/2 years at ESPN and two years at CBS Radio. Find Jason's baseball podcast, Baseball Things, right here.