Mariners’ Emerson Hancock in line to make debut vs. Padres

Emerson Hancock was spotted in the outfield Tuesday afternoon at T-Mobile Park, warming up by throwing a football

The best-hander, Seattle’s top pitching prospect, is anticipated to make his major league debut Wednesday night when the streaking Mariners wrap up a two-game interleague series with the visiting San Diego Padres

Hancock, the sixth overall pick in the 2020 MLB draft, will probably be the fourth starting pitcher to debut for the Mariners this season

“We won’t be the primary team in history to have an excessive amount of starting pitching depth, as this yr is proving out,” Mariners general manager Justin Hollander said. “It has been a challenge on everybody. But again, our guys have really adopted a next-man-up attitude. And whether we’re talking about Easton McGee or Bryce Miller or Bryan Woo, I actually have every expectation that Emerson will do the identical thing. We could have a next man up and that next guy up will probably do thoroughly.

Woo was scheduled to pitch against the Padres before being placed on the injured list Tuesday with right forearm inflammation. He made a top quality start last Thursday against the host Los Angeles Angels but “didn’t feel 100%” after a side session between starts, Mariners manager Scott Servais said

In 20 starts for Double-A Arkansas, Hancock was 11-5 with a 4.32 ERA. In 98 innings, he struck out 107 batters with 38 walks

“He’s definitely ready for this,” Hollander said. “This was coming eventually, whether it was this week or next week or the week after. We at all times had a plan to give Emerson a while in the massive leagues this yr in our rotation and provides everybody else slightly extra rest. Obviously, you realize Bryan feeling slightly more sore than normal expedited that.

With Tuesday’s 2-0 victory against the Padres, Seattle has won six in a row and 11 of its past 13 to pull inside two games of Toronto for the American League’s third and final wild-card playoff berth

“We’re rolling,” Servais said. “The team is feeling it. The vibe is there … you gotta exit and deal with continuing to win series.

Seattle’s Logan Gilbert allowed one hit in seven shutout innings Tuesday and struck out a career-high 12

“(He did) every little thing,” Padres manager Bob Melvin said of Gilbert. “Elevated breaking balls, splits late, off-count sliders. It’s probably the perfect game he’s pitched all yr is my guess.

The Padres, who’ve dropped three straight and are 4 games back in the National League’s wild-card chase, are scheduled to start right-hander Yu Darvish (8-7, 4.41) in the series finale

After going 3-1 in July, Darvish didn’t get a choice in his last outing because the visiting Los Angeles Dodgers rallied late for a 10-5 victory. Darvish allowed two runs on five hits over seven innings, with no walks and 4 strikeouts

Darvish is 7-4 with a 3.81 ERA in 14 profession starts against Seattle. He threw eight scoreless innings of two-hit ball the last time he faced Seattle, on Sept. 13, 2022

–Field Level Medi