RHP Emerson Hancock, Georgia
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DoB: 5/31/1999.
2020 Stats: 2-0, 3.75 ERA, 1.04 WHIP, 34/3 K/BB in 24 IP
Hancock came into the season drawing numerous comparisons to Casey Mize, a fellow SEC right hander with a similar build, stuff, and track record. Indeed, it was earned – in 2019, Hancock put up a 1.99 ERA, a 0.84 WHIP, and a 97/18 strikeout to walk ratio over 90.1 innings, and did so against a tough SEC slate. However, 2020 was been a bit less steady. He allowed six runs in his opening start against a weaker Richmond lineup, then turned it around by tossing seven shutout innings against another weaker lineup, Santa Clara. Tasked with a stronger Georgia Tech team for his third start, he started strong by getting them to go nine up, nine down with five strikeouts the first time through the order. However, he started to run into trouble in the fourth and ended up allowing four runs over 5.2 innings. In his final start of the season on March 6th, he came back with his best by striking out twelve over 7.1 shutout innings against Massachusetts.
Despite his up and down start to the season, I don't think his stock really dropped too much. Rather, I think the illusion of perfection was kind of popped. Nobody thought he was perfect, but he hadn't done anything *wrong* to that point, so we were left with this image of an SEC ace who would just go in and put in consistent dominant outings against some of the best lineups in college baseball. Of course we know that pitchers are going to have off days, and he had a couple in 2020, but that doesn't change his projection as a future ace. Hancock stands 6'4" and sits in the mid 90's with his fastball, which he backs up with a full arsenal of secondary pitches. His slider is his primary weapon with its late bite that plays extremely well off his fastball due to his ability to tunnel them together. Hancock also adds a curveball and a fading changeup, both of which miss plenty of bats and could be above average or plus pitches. To tie it all together, he brings well above average command and the ability to control the strike zone, and he's walked just three batters in 24 innings this season.
Overall, he checks all the proverbial "boxes" of a future ace: tall, throws hard, full set of secondaries, throws strikes, and has stayed mostly healthy. However, if we want to nitpick, which you have to do at the top of the draft, you can find a couple of things. His slider, curve, and changeup are all weapons, but none are the true plus to plus-plus finishers you see in Reid Detmers', Asa Lacy's, or CJ Van Eyk's curveball or Max Meyer's slider. Still, with his fourth best pitch (his curve) still being an out pitch, I wouldn't be too worried. The second nitpicky thing is health, as Hancock was shut down at the end of his sophomore season with general arm soreness, and 2020 was going to be about proving he could stay on the mound for a full season. It's a small concern considering he throws with very little effort from a durable frame, but it's one that he won't get a chance to assuage this year.
Hancock is the most complete pitching prospect in this year's deep class of pitching prospects. He has a very good chance to be an ace and aside from the injury risk that all pitchers face, he's about as low risk as it gets for pitchers. That's a fantastic outlook, one that stacks up well against any prospect in this year's class. A potential favorite to go first overall earlier in the spring, he might have fallen just a hair and now fits somewhere between picks four and seven, as it looks unlikely that any of Spencer Torkelson, Austin Martin, or Asa Lacy will fall out of the top three.
Game footage
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