Detroit Tigers: An early check-in on possible first overall picks
By Tyler Kotila
If the Detroit Tigers decide to take yet another pitcher with the first overall pick, the name to look for would be Emerson Hancock out of the University of Georgia
Since this is the Tigers organization, there is a chance they could take another pitcher with that first overall selection. Looking at the crop of pitchers, Emerson Hancock from the University of Georgia would not be that bad of a pull for the Tigers.
He is a 6-foot-4, 213-pound right-hander who profiles out as a future big-league rotation guy. He has made four starts on the 2020 season, two good and two bad, battling through some adversity.
He is 2-0 with a 3.75 ERA, a 1.04 WHIP, allowing twenty-two hits over twenty-four innings pitched. Hancock has only walked three hitters, punching out thirty-four, and keeping his opponents to a .237 batting average against him.
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His fastball is quite firm, with a little bit of arm-side run to it in the mid to upper 90s. He will use it as a put-away pitch, blowing it by hitters, elevated, or off the plate.
He also has a changeup that has excellent arm-side run and sink that fades away from a left-hander and drops in on a right-hander.
However, his go-to pitch is his slider, which has a tight break to it since he throws it hard. The sharp break allows him to get a lot of swings and misses, carrying a 56% chase rate on his slider.
If the Detroit Tigers do select a pitcher, Hancock may be the guy to target with the first overall selection. Taking another pitcher may not be a horrible idea with the way Hancock profiles out as a prospect.
A lot of early thoughts have Hancock very similarly profiled to Casey Mize, and as stacked as the organization is with pitchers, would that be a bad thing?
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Adding more healthy and promising arms may not be a bad thing if he truly is the best player available, but hopefully, the organization sticks with drafting a hitter.