If Mariners' Bryan Woo Needs Stint on IL, Here's the Latest on Injury to Emerson Hancock
The Seattle Mariners are all of a sudden in a very precarious spot. First, they've lost five of seven games on this East Coast road trip. Second, they've seen a 10.0 game division lead go down to 5.5 in the span of just six days and third, they are dealing with yet another injury to starting pitcher Bryan Woo.
Woo, who has dealt with multiple arm injuries over his career, left Monday's loss against the Tampa Bay Rays in the fourth inning with a hamstring injury and is awaiting the results of imaging later today.
Even if the injury is just a strain, it seems quite plausible that Woo will require an injured list stint, which leads to another difficulty for the M's: His likely replacement, Emerson Hancock, is also dealing with injury woes.
Per Ryan Divish of the Seattle Times on social media:
Emerson Hancock was lifted from his previous start due to lower back tightness. He was going to get a few extra days of rest this week and was scheduled to pitch Saturday for Tacoma.
Emerson Hancock was lifted from his previous start due to lower back tightness. He was going to get a few extra days of rest this week and was scheduled to pitch Saturday for Tacoma.
— Ryan Divish (@RyanDivish) June 25, 2024
Woo's next time through the rotation isn't scheduled to be until Sunday against the Minnesota Twins, so timing-wise, it works well if Hancock needs to take that spot. However, it's all contingent on how his back is doing in the next few days. Furthermore, even if Hancock can make the start, there's no guarantee that his back holds up under the workload, so the M's will be holding their breath through each pitch.
Regardless of what happens with Woo's imaging, it's beginning to seem more likely that Seattle needs to acquire some starting pitcher insurance at the looming trade deadline. Woo, and Hancock, just can't be trusted to get to the finish line for a team that is trying to contend for a division title.
Seattle is 45-36 at the halfway point of the season and will take on the Rays again on Tuesday at 3:50 p.m. PT.
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