Emerson Hancock took a deep breath, squared his shoulders, and fired in the pitch, which snapped into the catcher’s glove, right on target. “Hell yeah!” cheered Justin Novak, his catcher for the day at the spring training complex in Peoria.
With every pitch Hancock threw, Novak increased his enthusiasm: “Atta boy!” “G’ahead!” “NICE ONE!” And—far from the cameras or fans milling about the late-afternoon bullpen session— “Oh f—- yeah!”
Novak’s cheerleading was echoed—albeit in more restrained fashion—by the assorted Mariners pitching staff watching the bullpen. Call it cheesy. Eyewash. Whatever. Hancock got stronger as the bullpen went along, spotting up sinkers, dropping in changeups, and even showing off his new cutter.