A lot of things went wrong in today’s 10-1 loss to the Nationals. You’d think so with a score like that. But the one I want to focus on is pitch selection.
Emerson Hancock got the start today, and while he’s been having a breakout year, some people have been arguing that while he’s improved, it’s not quite as good as it looks. Big day for those people, whoever they are. In particular, Hancock has been struggling since tossing that 14-strikeout all-timer in the Randy Johnson number-retirement game. Between then and today, he had six starts in which he kept his ERA under 3.00, but did it while riding a .200 BABIP and kicking a K%-BB% of just 12.0%, down from the 25.2% star turn in his first seven starts.
In other words, it seemed that the league had adjusted to the new Hancock. He’d have to adjust back.
He’d take that adjustment into his own hands after the debacle in Baltimore in his last start when he screamed at catcher Jhonny Pereda during a mound visit. Today, Hancock had a pitchcom on his belt, and would call his own game. I actually love that the Mariners did this rather than simply having Hancock pitch to Garver today. This managed to solve the tension while still standing behind Pereda.
But the pitches Hancock called were not the right ones.
To be sure, it worked at first. Other than leaving a cutter in the lefty loop zone to James Wood, who did what he does, Hancock was fine the first time through the order. The big change he went to was throwing his sinker to all of Washington’s lefties. On the season, Hancock had been mostly using his four-seamer and cutter to lefties while leaving his sinker and sweeper on the shelf. That makes sense as a strategy. Sinkers and sweepers, with their horizontal movement, generally have some of the biggest platoon splits.
Today though, Hancock caught the lefties off guard, throwing 10 sinkers to lefties in the first time through the order, 36% of his pitches to them. That’s double his season average.
The problem was that the Nats noticed and were not caught off guard the second time through. Stacking five hits in a row to open the bottom of the fourth. Add in an errant pick-off throw and a missed fielder’s choice, and the hometown team put up a five spot in what Aaron Goldsmith says was less than four minutes.
Hancock eventually got out of the inning, but did not come back for the fifth. I don’t think the understaffed and overworked bullpen needed the extra pitches. Only nine of Hancock’s 59 pitches were something other than a fastball. Maybe the Mariners could have tried seeing if doing something other than aping Bryan Woo would work before pulling the plug.
To their credit, the bullpen did mostly hold it down. The exception was Andrés Muñoz, who came in for the ninth, despite the lopsided score, just to get some work. But he gave up a walk and a double and left after the trainer came to the mound. The broadcast speculated it was just about the heat, a problem he’s had in the past, but Adam Jude reports it was back tightness. That’s a vague diagnosis, but vagueness is unfortunately all you can do for that malady, which might be fine tomorrow or linger for the rest of his life. (Josh Naylor also left the game after fouling a ball on the shin, but his x-rays were negative.)
In a game lacking in good news, at least Cole Young made a web gem in the sixth inning (tragically, no video yet). For those not following the storyline, LL’s Managing Editor Kate Preusser has committed that if Young wins a Gold Glove, she’ll get a tattoo that says, “I was so wrong about Cole Young.” So every good play gets me thinking about font choices to recommend. Young gets the Sun Hat Award today for that play and for scoring the Mariners’ lone run.
