SEATTLE, WA – Seattle Mariners Executive Vice President & General Manager of Baseball Operations Justin Hollander announced today the following roster moves:
· Emerson Hancock (#62), RHP, selected from Double-A Arkansas.
· Devin Sweet, RHP, optioned to Triple-A Tacoma (post-game August 8).
· Zach Muckenhirn, LHP, designated for assignment.
The Mariners Major League, 40-man roster remains full at 40 players.
Hancock, 24, is scheduled to make his Major League debut tonight in a start vs. San Diego. Hancock is 11–5 with a 4.32 ERA (47 ER, 98.0 IP) with 38 walks and 107 strikeouts in 20 starts with Double-A Arkansas this season. The 6-foot-4 right-hander has been named Texas League Pitcher of the Month (June), Mariners Minor League Pitcher of the Month (June) and 2-time Texas League Pitcher of the Week (July 2 and July 23) this season.
Hancock is ranked as the Mariners #1 pitching prospect, and #4 overall prospect in the organization, according to MLB.com.
The Cairo, Georgia native was originally selected by Seattle in the 1st round (6th overall) of the 2020 MLB First-Year Player Draft out of the University of Georgia, where he pitched collegiately with the Bulldogs for 3 seasons (2018–20). In 53 career minor league starts in the Mariners organization, Hancock is 21–10 with a 3.77 ERA (101 ER, 241.0 IP) with 93 walks and 242 strikeouts. He represented the Mariners at the All-Star Futures Game in both 2021 and 2022.
When Hancock first appears with Seattle, the Mariners will have each of their 1st round picks from 2018–20 make starts for them this season, with 2018 first rounder Logan Gilbert (14th overall, Stetson University) going 10–5 with a 3.66 ERA in 23 starts and 2019 first rounder George Kirby (20th overall, Elon University) going 10–8 with a 3.32 ERA in 22 starts this season.
Hancock will become the 10th player (8th pitcher) to make his Major League debut with Seattle this season, joining INF José Caballero, RHP Bryce Miller, RHP Juan Then, RHP Bryan Woo, RHP Ty Adcock, RHP Isaiah Campbell, RHP Devin Sweet, OF Cade Marlowe and RHP Prelander Berroa.
Sweet, 26, was selected from Double-A Arkansas on July 19 and made his Major League debut with the Mariners that night vs. Minnesota, also making a relief appearance on Aug. 1 vs. Boston. He recorded his first Major League strikeout against Alex Verdugo in his second outing.
In 27 relief appearances with the Travelers this season, he is 4–1 with 5 saves and a 1.54 ERA (6 ER, 35.0 IP) with 8 walks and 47 strikeouts. At the time of big league call-up, Sweet ranked 2nd in ERA and 3rd in strikeout-to-walk ratio (5.88) among Texas League pitchers (min. 30 IP) this season.
In 144 career minor league games (28 starts), all with the Mariners organization (2018-c), Sweet is 23–19 with 9 saves and a 3.69 ERA (131 ER, 319.1 IP) with 93 walks and 384 strikeouts. The right-hander was originally signed by Seattle as an undrafted free agent out of North Carolina Central University on July 13, 2018.
Muckenhirn, 28, was acquired by Seattle from the New York Mets in exchange for RHP Chris Flexen and RHP Trevor Gott on July 3. Muckenhirn, who did not appear in a game with the Mariners, went 0–0 with a 9.35 ERA (9 ER, 8.2 IP) with 2 walks and 5 strikeouts in 7 appearances with Triple-A Tacoma.
The left-hander was designated for assignment by New York-NL on July 2. He made 3 appearances with the Mets this season, going 0–0 with a 6.00 ERA (4 ER, 6.0 IP), 2 walks and 3 strikeouts. Muckenhirn made his Major League debut on May 3, 2023 tossing 1.2 scoreless innings against the Detroit Tigers.
The Delano, Minnesota native was selected by the Baltimore Orioles in the 11th round of the 2016 MLB First-Year Player Draft. He has appeared in parts of 7 minor league seasons, going 22–22 with a 3.71 ERA (171 ER, 414.1 IP), 411 strikeouts 152 walks and 17 saves in 224 games (25 starts).
