CROSS COUNTRY
MAC Championships
Delaware Academy/South Kortright's boys and girls both won Midstate Athletic Conference ****** les Wednesday, Oct. 28, in Bainbridge's General Clinton Park.
The DA/SK boys placed first with 30 points, followed by Afton/Harpursville/Bainbridge-Guilford with 37 points. Sidney placed third with 73 points and Deposit/Hancock placed fourth with 93 points. Unadilla Valley/Gilbertsville-Mount Upton and Edmeston/Morris had incomplete team scores.
Owen Degan from A/H/B-G placed first in 16:10, followed by Jaden Lewis from DA/SK at 16:21 and Jake Favinger from UV/G-MU in 16:23.

#first #country #Delaware

Here are the Muncie area and statewide high school football scores for September 11, 2026.
MUNCIE AREA
Eastbrook 64, Blackford 6
Yorktown 37, Delta 13
Eastern Hancock 47, New Castle 19

#area #blackford #delta #hancock

Sean McVay has taken responsibility for the Los Angeles Rams' 27-7 defeat to the San Francisco 49ers, admitting the loss was a humbling experience for his team.
The Rams led 7-3 early in the second quarter after Kyren Williams scored a five-yard rushing touchdown. However, San Francisco responded with 24 unanswered points to secure a convincing victory in Melbourne.
Brock Purdy threw three touchdown passes as the 49ers pulled away after half-time. Matthew Stafford completed 15 of 25 passes for 155 yards and an interception before Stetson Bennett replaced him late in the fourth quarter.
Photo by Morgan Hancock/Getty Images
McVay did not look for excuses after the defeat and instead credited Kyle Shanahan and the 49ers for their performance.

#sean

On August 14, 2026, Reuters reported that Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) disclosed that its stake in ******* e Exploration Technologies Corp. (NASDAQ:SPCX) was worth about $94 billion as of June 30, 2026, more than 100 times its original $900 million investment from 2015. It is making Alphabet by far ******* eX's largest single institutional shareholder following the company's June initial public offering.
Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL)'s ******* eX stake is now one of the most lucrative early-stage bets in tech history. A $900 million check from 2015 is worth roughly $94 billion, a gain that dwarfs Alphabet's next-largest disclosed rival holder, Saudi Arabia's Public Investment Fund, whose 154.1 million shares were worth $26.3 billion at the same date. That scale validates Alphabet's willingness to make patient, outsized bets outside its core search business, a track record that could matter the next time Alphabet weighs a similarly bold bet.
Space Exploration Technologies Corp. (NASDAQ:SPCX)'s trading action suggests institutional demand is holding up despite the pullback. The stock got "a fresh jolt of buying" when fears about its first lockup expiry proved unfounded, Interactive Brokers strategist Steve Sosnick told Reuters. It remains one of the most actively traded names among the firm's customers. That kind of resilience right after a lockup, often a moment when early holders dump shares, signals ******* eX's shareholder base isn't rushing for the exits.
SpaceX's ownership base extends well beyond Alphabet, which reduces reliance on any single backer's continued conviction. Reuters' filing review found Fidelity, Saudi Arabia's PIF, Hancock Prospecting, Brookfield, and other major institutions all disclosing sizable stakes. That breadth shows professional investors broadly, not just Alphabet, are underwriting ******* eX's valuation.
Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL)'s headline number is already stale and shrinking. The stake would be worth about $77.9 billion at ******* eX's August 13 price, Reuters reported, roughly $16 billion below the June 30 figure used in the disclosure, since regulatory filings run on a 45-day lag. Now that ******* eX is public, Alphabet's stake must be marked to market. It means ******* eX's own stock swings could show up as real volatility in Alphabet's reported earnings going forward, a new risk that did not exist while the investment sat private.

#reuters #worth #public

At the beginning of this week it did seem that exciting young defender Stephen Mfuni would leave Manchester City to spend the 2026-27 season on loan with Coventry City. A move to the newly promoted side would have provided Mfuni with the opportunity to get a taste of the Premier League if he could earn a position in Frank Lampard's lineup. However, Mfuni's loan move to Coventry fell through as reported by Jack Johnson for TalkSport. It did seem to be a waiting game to find out where Mfuni would play his football this season. Now, it has been reported that Mfuni's loan move to Coventry could be back on which is good news for Manchester City and the young defender.
Stephen Mfuni could end up joining Coventry City on loan after all, according to Tom Hancock of TalkSport. Furthermore, Hancock reports that City had held talks with Sheffield United and Swansea over a potential loan move to the Championship for young defender. However, it looks like Mfuni may now move to a Premier League club instead. It is further reported that Coventry City are eager to strengthen their squad after being promoted back to the Premier League. Adding Mfuni to Frank Lampard's squad will give them another defensive option to aid their cause to stay in the Premier League this season.
Hopefully, Stephen Mfuni does wind up completing a loan move to Coventry City. Spending a season in the Premier League should fast track Mfuni's development. Especially if he can become a regular contributor for Frank Lampard's side. Also, Manchester City and Mfuni will be glad to have a resolution found as to where Mfuni will play this season.
What Manchester City and Mfuni wouldn't want is for Mfuni's short-term future to remain unresolved. That would be the worst-case scenario and it could have forced City to be scrambling to find a suitable club for Mfuni to head out on loan to. If Coventry City have reignited their interest in Mfuni as reported, this scenario may have been avoided.
Stephen Mfuni could be heading out on loan to Coventry City after all. Hopefully, the loan move goes through and Mfuni returns Manchester City ready to take the next step in what promises to be strong career for the 18-year-old centre-back.

#mfuni #loan

That was an enjoyable baseball game.
The Mariners beat the Astros 10-5 on Saturday in Houston. The offense strung together a bunch of hits early and found some power late. Emerson Hancock turned in another outing so good that it would have seemed laughable about this time last year. The season is over, of course, and the Mariners are still eight games below .500. But this was a nice reminder that even losing baseball seasons can have a few gems.
Despite the final line, Hancock was in trouble right out of the gate. In the bottom of the first, he walked Yordan Alvarez and gave up three straight singles to open the scoring at 1-0. None of the singles were hit too hard, but with the bases loaded and just one out, this felt like a looming clunker. Then Hancock put together a fun little sequence to Christian Walker:
Fastball paint, called strike
Fastball paint, called ball but challenged for a strike

#singles

HOUSTON (AP) — Cole Young homered and tied a career high with four RBIs to lead the Seattle Mariners to a 10-5 win over the Houston Astros on Saturday night.
Emerson Hancock (7-7) allowed two runs and five hits in a career high-tying seven innings to help Seattle to its second win in three games following a six-game skid.
Brendan Donovan added three hits and drove in three runs on a night the Mariners had 15 hits.
The AL West-leading Astros were up 1-0 when Young, who had three hits, tied it with an RBI single with no outs in the second. The Mariners took a 3-1 lead with one out when Victor Robles tripled for a second straight game to drive in two. There were two outs in the inning when Donovan's RBI single made it 4-1.
Christian Vázquez hit a solo homer for Houston and Isaac Paredes cut the lead to 7-4 on a two-run shot with two outs in the eighth.

#three #lead

How tough am I? How tough am I? I watched that entire Mariners game… with the audio on.
The Mariners couldn't cut it at the Salty Spittoon on Tuesday, losing to the Tigers 8-0 in the first game following the trade deadline. Emerson Hancock pitched fine but had some poor defense behind him. Seranthnoy Domínguez made his Mariners debut and got shelled. The lineup posted a big ol' zero. Maybe they should try Weenie Hut Juniors instead. The Mariners had the gall to implode on SpongeBob Night at the ballpark. If you see a link in the writing that follows, give it a click if you wish to sing along.
Have you finished those errands?
This was the first game after the trade deadline, allowing the Mariners to unveil what they've been working on the last few weeks. It's the moment you've been waiting for, in other words. Taylor Ward and Domínguez joined the team. Jhonny Pereda made the trip up I-5 to replace Mitch Garver, who was let go along with Rob Refsnyder. Even Brendan Donovan returned from his latest trip to the injured list. This felt like a good opportunity for a reset. It was not.
Keep going, you're good

#game #first

BINGHAMTON — The Binghamton Rumble Ponies, Double-A affiliate of the New York Mets, will spotlight the Deposit-Hancock High School softball team at Mirabito Stadium on Wednesday, August 5.
The Rumble Ponies will recognize Deposit-Hancock for winning the 2026 New York State Public High School Athletic ******* ociation (NYSPHSAA) Class C state ******* le, which was their fourth in the past five seasons.
The Eagles captured the victory in a nail-biting 4-3 win over Galway at Greenlight Networks Grand Slam Park in June to complete the season with a 23-2 record.
More: Potential Hancock-Deposit merger playing out across state lines
Deposit-Hancock softball has a reputation for dominance and perseverance, notably in the postseason, during which the team has amassed six consecutive Section 4 Class C ******* les.

#deposit #hancock

When Castillo was brought in at the 2022 trade deadline, my whole perspective on this franchise shifted. Riding a 14-game winning streak, the Mariners found themselves in a playoff spot at the deadline. It was time. A top-10 prospect and a top-50 prospect plus two depth pieces was a high price, but I was sure Castillo was worth it. And for as good as Castillo was, it's hard to overstate how much that trade meant. It was a signal about who the Mariners were as a franchise. They were in it for real.
And as for the man himself, I was smitten right away. Meeting up with the team in New York, Castillo dyed the end of his hair teal and blue to replace the Cincinnati Red. He was all in. He struck out 8 Yankees over 6.2 innings, picking up the first of his 43 wins in a Mariners uniform. The fact that the Mariners had outbid the Yankees to get Castillo only sweetened the moment, underlining Castillo's meaning. He followed that up in his first home start at T-Mobile by facing the Yankees again, pitching eight shutout innings in the best game I've ever seen. Those were the first two of 11 starts he ripped off to close out 2022 with a 3.17 ERA and a strikeout rate of 28.9%.
On a team that lacked a frontline starter, he was the obvious choice to start Game 1 of the Wild Card Round. The only swear word in the Sun Hat Award record book refers to why he won the award that day: "for kicking the ***** out of the Blue Jays in Seattle's first postseason game in 21 years." His final line that day? 7.1 IP, 0 R, 6 H, 5 K, 0 BB, 19 whiffs. He averaged—averaged—100 mph on both his four-seamer and his two-seamer. Luis Castillo was the proof. The Mariners had arrived.
He followed that up with an All-Star 2023. His final numbers belie how elite that season was. He pitched at least five innings in 32 of his 33 starts, living up to his La Piedra nickname. His 3.01 ERA and K-BB% of 21.8% through August had him entering the season's final month in the pole position for the Cy Young Award.
Along the way, he was always the showman, even helping keep things light through the team's struggles, using his signature flex to joke around with Shohei Ohtani. And he fought to keep the team in the running, collecting 22 whiffs in the game that saw his 1,000th career strikeout. It was a season that saw the MLB debuts of Bryce Miller, Bryan Woo, and Emerson Hancock. Certainly each of them was impressive as a rookie, but it's easy to forget in retrospect how much they struggled and how much it mattered that Castillo was there to keep the ship steady.

#game #yankees #innings

With the MLB trade deadline just two days away, the Seattle Mariners are expected to be one of the more active teams in baseball. After coming within one win of the World Series by reaching Game 7 of the ALCS last season, expectations were sky-high entering 2026. Instead, Seattle has struggled to find consistency and now sits third in the AL West with a record below .500 as the calendar turns to August.
As a result, the Mariners appear willing to make significant changes to their roster, and while most of the trade speculation has centered around veteran pitchers like Luis Castillo and Emerson Hancock, a surprising new name has entered the conversation.
MORE: One player every MLB team will trade at the 2026 trade deadline
According to MLB insider Jeff Passan, several teams have contacted the Mariners to inquire about right-hander George Kirby.
The report is somewhat unexpected considering Kirby has been viewed as one of the cornerstones of Seattle's rotation since breaking into the majors. Still, when a talented young starter becomes even remotely available, rival clubs are always going to make the call.

#kirby #deadline #teams #series

Kevin Warsh's bare-bones communication style has left investors doubting his commitment to curb inflation, putting more pressure on the new Federal Reserve chairman to back up his words with interest-rate hikes.Matt Miskin, Co-Chief Investment Strategist John Hancock Investment Management, discusses the divergent equity and bond reaction this morning to the FOMC decision.

#investment #hancock

Cubs believed to have 'best shot' of trading for Mariners' 3.26 ERA ace-level pitcher originally appeared on The Sporting News. Add The Sporting News as a Preferred Source by clicking here.
The Chicago Cubs are in dire need of starting pitching help, and it's been widely reported leading up to the deadline that they're in pursuit of rotation help.
While the Cubs could wind up targeting many different options, including Tarik Skubal, a better, more realistic target might be a controllable starter with a few of their current starters set to hit free agency after the season comes to a close.
One starter, 3.26 ERA Seattle Mariners righty ace-level pitcher Emerson Hancock, would be an incredible acquisition. USA Today's Bob Nightengale is reporting rival MLB clubs believe the Cubs have the "best shot" to land Hanock, but it would be very costly.
"Teams are salivating over the idea of acquiring Hancock, who's easily the most prized young starter on the market," Nightengale writes. "They believe that the Cubs could have the best shot at him if they include outfielder Seiya Suzuki and perhaps infielder Matt Shaw in a deal."

#starter #Mariners

TThe Buffalo Bills opened training camp Wednesday with nearly their entire roster on the practice field.
Wide receiver Tyrell Shavers, who is recovering from a torn ACL suffered during Buffalo's playoff win over the Jacksonville Jaguars in January, was the lone player to begin camp on the physically unable to perform (PUP) list.
"Tyrell Shavers is PUP so he's the only one that won't be out there today," offensive coordinator Joe Brady said before practice. "There will be some guys that will be on a limited rep count."
That means the Bills are beginning training camp with nearly their entire roster available, a welcome change after injuries piled up late last season.
The news represents a significant turnaround from the offseason, when general manager Brandon Beane said several players were still working their way back from surgeries. Players including Michael Hoecht, DeWayne Carter, Landon Jackson and Jordan Hancock all participated in Wednesday's opening practice, though some worked on limited snap counts.

#practice #nearly

Mariners' Emerson Hancock rumor throws twist into Luis Castillo trade talks originally appeared on The Sporting News. Add The Sporting News as a Preferred Source by clicking here.
The Seattle Mariners have a lot of starting pitchers.
That surplus has always seemed like a logical place for them to deal from ahead of the MLB trade deadline, regardless of whether moves would be considering "buying" or "selling." In this case, it would simply be the Mariners giving up a loaded position to improve in a different way.
All along, it's been ***** umed that the veteran Luis Castillo would be the most likely trade candidate.
An article on Thursday by The Athletic's Ken Rosenthal and Will Sammon, though, suggests that they might actually trade Emerson Hancock.

#hancock

XLK gained 26% and SMH surged 65% YTD as Roland calls Q2 semiconductor earnings growth of 100%+ the best of her career.
SPY's 9% YTD return masks hidden concentration risk. Semiconductors now represent 27% of emerging market indexes, quietly breaking traditional diversification strategies.
Don't wait: the ****** yst who called NVIDIA in 2010 just revealed his top 10 AI stocks. See the full list FREE now.
Emily Roland, Co-Chief Investment Strategist at Manulife John Hancock Investment Management, delivered a two-sided message on CNBC this morning: the fundamentals underpinning technology stocks are the strongest she has ever seen, yet the concentration those returns have created is rewriting the risk profile of nearly every diversified portfolio.
Her framing captured the current market in one line: "This is just a dip buyers' dream market. Anytime news comes across that's even attempting to cause selling pressure to come in, it's almost like a beach ball that's under the water. It just pops right back up," Roland said.

SEATTLE — Emerson Hancock and the Mariners bullpen extended Seattle’s scoreless streak to 24 innings and Mitch Garver hit a two-run homer in a 4-0 win over the Toronto Blue Jays on Sunday.
Hancock (6-4) gave up two hits and two walks while striking out five over seven innings.
He followed Logan Gilbert on Saturday to became Seattle’s first starting pitchers with consecutive outings of seven shutout innings since Bryan Woo and Bryce Miller 2024. Over the weekend, the Hancock and Gilbert duo combined for 14 1/3 innings, no runs, three hits and 12 strikeouts.
Gabe Speier and Andrés Muñoz each threw an inning of relief for Seattle.
Toronto was shut out in consecutive games for the first time this season and has now won just two of its last 10 to drop six games under .500.

SEATTLE (AP) — Emerson Hancock and the Mariners bullpen extended Seattle’s scoreless streak to 24 innings and Mitch Garver hit a two-run homer in a 4-0 win over the Toronto Blue Jays on Sunday.
Hancock (6-4) gave up two hits and two walks while striking out five over seven innings.
He followed Logan Gilbert on Saturday to became Seattle’s first starting pitchers with consecutive outings of seven shutout innings since Bryan Woo and Bryce Miller 2024. Over the weekend, the Hancock and Gilbert duo combined for 14 1/3 innings, no runs, three hits and 12 strikeouts.
Gabe Speier and Andrés Muñoz each threw an inning of relief for Seattle.
Toronto was shut out in consecutive games for the first time this season and has now won just two of its last 10 to drop six games under .500.

Mariners 4, Blue Jays 0
Cool side of the pillow: Emerson Hancock, .33 WPA
Hot side of the fridge: Colt Emerson, -.05 WPA
Game thread comment of the day:
Same, bestie

Game #90 .
It really can't be as bad as yesterday's game, right?
Trey Yesavage is having a good season.
But then Emerson Hancock isn't terrible either. I can't imagine naming someone Emerson. But then I don't have much imagination.
Today's lineups:

The Mariners attempted to prop up their flagging bullpen today, trading out lefty Josh Simpson for righty Cole Wilcox.
With the Mariners past the Oops! All Lefties Guardians lineup, there’s no need for an extra lefty in the ‘pen, but Simpson didn’t make a strong argument to stay, providing the bottom bread in the disaster sandwich that was the Mariners’ meltdown eighth inning in one of the most unpleasant games I’ve recapped yet this season. For Simpson, the issue remains command. Wilcox hasn’t been the picture of pinpoint command – or he has, if that picture was drawn by someone who’d consumed ten double espressos while riding a Gravitron – but the thing Wilcox does bring is an ability to work multiple innings, something that’s useful for the bullpen-impoverished Mariners, down a man due to the fluctuating piggyback strategy.
Wilcox is carrying a rough-looking ERA of over five in Triple-A, but his peripherals are good: his FIP and xERA are both about half that, and he’s striking out over a third of batters faced while keeping his walks in check. It’s the walks that were the pain point for Wilcox in his first go-round with the big-league club in April, when he flashed solid strikeout stuff but also walked almost as many hitters as he struck out. That issue has calmed down significantly in his time at the notoriously hitter-friendly PCL, where he’s also collected a pair of saves.
Wilcox was my Pile Pick this spring training but his command issues caused Alex Hoppe to leapfrog him in the pecking order. Hoppe had his own struggles, however, and was optioned down to Triple-A three days ago. With Hoppe ineligible to be recalled from Triple-A for at least another week, Wilcox has some runway for another audition to the big-league club as they continue to search for consistency in the bullpen. And as a fun bonus, Wilcox has brought along a good luck charm this time that he keeps in his locker: a bobblehead of former Georgia teammate Emerson Hancock given away at Foley Field this May – a reminder from one Bulldog to another that the path to a big-league career doesn’t always run smoothly.

Mariners scrap Logan Gilbert-Emerson Hancock piggyback start originally appeared on The Sporting News. Add The Sporting News as a Preferred Source by clicking here.
Seattle Mariners pitcher Logan Gilbert anticipated a longer runway for his start Saturday. Teammate Emerson Hancock appreciated the extra day of rest.
In the midst of a quirky part of their 2026 MLB schedule, the Mariners were scheduled to play 12 games over a 13-game stretch. Their lone off day remains Wednesday, which will uniquely break up a series against the host Los Angeles Angels. The teams are giving way to an FIFA World Cup match at nearby Lumen Field.
About two weeks ago, Mariners manager Dan Wilson announced that the pitching staff had adopted a piggyback formation to give starters extra time and help balance the six-man rotation leading up to the All-Star break in mid-July.
Bryce Miller and Luis Castillo on June 19 engaged in the first adjusted outing, losing a 6-2 decision to the Boston Red Sox at T-Mobile Park. Gilbert and Hancock were slated to make the second of three scheduled piggyback starts, but have been put on hold. George Kirby and Bryan Woo were announced as a potential pair, but their outing has yet to be established.

After taking until the seventh inning to record their first hit last night, the Mariners will look to bounce back today. They’ll pin their hopes on Emerson Hancock, who’s looking to bounce back himself. His last start was his roughest of the year so far, surrendering nine hits and six runs to just three whiffs over four innings in Washington. That continues a downward trend since the gem he spun on the night the Mariners retired Randy Johnson’s number. Since that 14-strikeout performance, Hancock has struck out 29 and walked 11 over seven outings.
He’ll have the luxury of facing off against a Red Sox team tonight that’s cobbled together just an 89 wRC+. If he can’t get right tonight, the team’s going to have some real thinking to do about how he can adjust back to the adjustments the league has clearly made to him. One adjustment he’s made so far is to take a little more control of the game by putting a pitchcom controller on his glove. Manager Dan Wilson said Hancock will probably have it again tonight, though he cautioned that when guys get it, “sometimes it’s a little more than they bargained for.”
On the other side, the Red Sox will bring out another lefty, which has been Mariner kryptonite so far this season. Fortunately, tonight’s flavor is Connelly Early, whose 4.53 xERA compares pretty unfavorably to last night’s starter, Ranger Suarez’s, 3.35. The Mariners can expect to see a lot of fastballs and the lefties in particular will see a lot of sinkers, which has not gone great for them this season.
If the Mariners can get into the bullpen, Luke Raley might be available off the bench after what Dan called “a major step forward” from Raley’s battle with a cold.
It’s unclear whether this weekend’s Ref-erendum is real or just fan wishcasting. But he gets another chance tonight after going 0-4 with a strikeout last night. He, Mitch Garver, and Connor Joe will be the righty platoon bats tonight and Víctor Robles will sit, at least to start.

The good thing about the punishing grind of an MLB season is it doesn’t allow a lot of time for wallowing. Just one day after the Mariners blew a winnable game in Detroit to drop a series against the lowly Tigers, they escaped with a win in Baltimore today in the series opener against the Orioles, 6-3. There were many aspects of this game that mirrored Sunday’s heartbreaking loss, but today the Mariners came out on top thanks to some timely challenges and a big blast from Josh Naylor.
Emerson Hancock was good, not great, today. The Achilles heel in Hancock’s breakout season – aside from some yucky peripherals on his fastball – has been his occasional command outages, something that’s plagued him since he was in the minors, although his struggles with command now seem to be more related to his expanded ******* nal, especially the devastating but finicky sweeper.
That sweeper got away from Hancock in the third: he hit Blaze Alexander to lead off the inning before getting it back to strike out Sam Huff looking on the pitch. But Hancock then lost the handle on his sinker to Taylor Ward, walking him on five pitches, and losing an eight-pitch battle with Gunnar Henderson to walk the bases full. A sacrifice fly from Pete Alonso brought home the first run of the game, but Hancock was able to cap the damage there, getting Colton Cowser to fly out harmlessly to end the Orioles threat.
It wasn’t pretty – Hancock was at 69 pitches by the end of the third before bouncing back with a six-pitch fourth – with Hancock missing his good secondaries, needing to lean heavily on the sinker today, a pitch that has a propensity to get hit hard; he almost doubled up his usage of the pitch today, but also had some extra velo on the sinker, which helped keep the ball finding gloves. The only tick against Hancock was his search for command cost him about an inning of work, going just five innings a day after the Mariners got just 5.2 innings out of their starter yesterday.
Meanwhile, the Mariners hitters struggled against Orioles rookie Trey Gibson (not to be confused with umpire “Power” Tripp Gibson), making a start in place of the injured Chris Bassitt. Gibson poounded the bottom of the zone, eliciting a bunch of weak-contact groundball outs. Finally, in the fifth, Dominic Canzone led off the inning with a single, and then with one out Jhonny Pereda hit a solid line drive single (101.2 mph exit velocity). Ryan Bliss, getting a start after Colt Emerson was a late scratch with back tightness and J.P. Crawford was placed on the 10-day IL after being hit in the hand by Public Enemy #1 Framber Valdez – did his job, knocking in the run with a sac fly. Pretty good, considering Bliss had been ferried to the ballpark with such little fanfare his bags didn’t even arrive (leading to a very cute exchange postgame where similar Short King Brad Adam offered to loan Bliss some of his clothes). Cole Young, pressed into leadoff duty, kept the pressure on, cashing in his Dollar Token o

Emerson Hancock, the breakout star of the vaunted Mariners rotation in 2026, turned in another strong start last night against the Mets, going six innings with seven strikeouts and giving up just two runs, both on solo homers. This, in and of itself, is not particularly surprising; Hancock, one day after his 27th birthday, has settled into a steady hand in the Mariners rotation, and this kind of line now feels like just another day at the office for Hancock.
What is surprising is how he got there: last year, Hancock’s four seam-sinker combo accounted for over two-thirds of his pitches, with his changeup accounting for the bulk of the rest and a slider/sweeper rounding it out. He was a classic ***** ator, working within what Mario Delgado Genzor has termed the “pronator’s triangle.” Here’s Hancock’s pitch mix in 2025, with his particular ***** ator’s triangle skillfully drawn in for you:
A quick review, if you don’t know: Pitchers with a supination bias, or supinators, get on the outside of the ball as they release it (you can remember this by imagining scooping up a big spoonful of delicious soup), leading to glove-side movement. These kinds of pitchers excel at pitches that rely on horizontal movement like sweepers, cutters, and curveballs. Pitchers with ***** ation bias, on the other hand, stay to the inside of the ball, ending palm-out. ***** ators are able to get significant arm-side run. While ***** ators tend to throw a very spin efficient fastball, leading to more ride up in the zone, that comes at a cost of horizontal movement, limiting their options to enhance their ***** nals with things like sweepers or cutters.
But in 2026, Hancock changed up his pitch mix, somehow magically developing all those pitches that are supposed to be off-limits to ***** ators, as Michael Rosen examined in his article on FanGraphs about how Hancock dropped his arm angle and spin efficiency and in doing so escaped “low slot ***** ator jail”. All of a sudden we don’t have a triangle so much as we have…Massachussetts.
The cutter, while still classified as a hard pitch like the fourseam or sinker, has a totally different movement profile – while the sinker and four-seamer move armside, the cutter moves gloveside, although Hancock will still throw it to both sides of the plate, making things even less predictable for hitters.