George Kirby isn’t the only familiar arm the Mariners may be sorting through on the mound down the stretch. As George Hancock works his way back from a left adductor strain, Seattle is now weighing a bigger question: does he return to the rotation, or does he finish the season in the bullpen?
Hancock’s setback came early in his Aug. 28 start in Toronto, when he grabbed a grounder up the first-base line, twisted awkwardly while rising to tag Nathan Luke out, and stayed in the game anyway. He threw 61 more pitches after that play and got through five innings, but the Mariners put him on the 15-day injured list two days later, retroactive to Aug. 29.
The club hoped he might be back by Sunday in West Sacramento. That timetable has already passed. Hancock didn’t throw until this past weekend, and his first bullpen session came Wednesday.
Before Thursday’s game against the Rangers, manager Dan Wilson said the bullpen work was “pretty good,” but not enough to send Hancock straight back into action.
“He still did feel it occasionally, so we’re going to see how he responds here over the next couple of days and go from there,” Wilson said. “All in all, it was a positive step forward.”
That timeline matters. If this were June or July, Hancock could have taken a normal ramp-up toward a rehab assignment.
But with only about a week and a half left in September, there isn’t much room for a standard buildup, especially if the injury still nags as his workload climbs. Wilson said Hancock will throw another bullpen in two or three days, and then the staff will decide what comes next.
That decision could include a move to relief for the stretch run.
“I think anything’s possible,” Wilson said. “We’re making sure that he’s healthy first. Then, understanding how to plug him in and get him back, either into the rotation or in a different role.”
It wouldn’t be unfamiliar territory for Hancock, the Mariners’ first-round pick in 2020. Since his debut in 2023, he’s often been the starter on the outside looking in as Seattle’s rotation shuffled around him.
That was true in 2024, when a Spring Training injury to Bryan Woo opened the door for Hancock to begin the season as the fifth starter before he was sent to Triple-A Tacoma. It happened again in 2025, when the team considered shifting him to the bullpen, only for George Kirby’s right shoulder inflammation to push Hancock back into the Opening Day rotation. Once the rotation got healthy, he was optioned to Tacoma, then returned later in the year and finished as a reliever.
This season was different. With Bryce Miller on the IL to open the year, Hancock claimed a rotation spot again - and this time, he ran with it.
His fastball ranked in the 99th percentile of run value, and he leaned more heavily on his sweeper than his changeup. The results were there, too: a 2.78 ERA through May, and a role as Seattle’s most dependable starter.
That performance even forced the Mariners to lean on piggybacks and a six-man rotation when Miller came back.
Now the situation has flipped again. Luis Castillo was traded away at the Deadline, and top prospect Kade Anderson took his place in the rotation, earning his first Major League win on Wednesday.
Miller’s season has also moved in a different direction. He started hot, then faded badly enough over the summer that the Mariners were ready to shift him to the bullpen - until Hancock’s injury pushed Miller back into the rotation.
Even so, Wilson has limited how deep Miller goes. He pulled him after 65 pitches in Boston last Wednesday, then after 3 2/3 innings Tuesday against the Rangers.
The Mariners still have three weeks left to figure out how they want to handle the pitching staff in 2026. Longer term, the picture is just as unsettled.
President of baseball operations Jerry Dipoto said Wednesday that the club is planning to cap Anderson around 125 innings in his first professional season, leaving him about 25 innings to go. Behind him on the organization’s top-prospect list is Ryan Sloan, the No. 2 prospect, who could be in line for a callup as soon as next season begins.
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