San Diego Padres 2020 MLB Draft scouting profile: Emerson Hancock

We continue preparing for the San Diego Padres 2020 MLB Draft by looking at starting pitcher Emerson Hancock from the University of Georgia.

In just a little over three weeks the college baseball season will get underway and we’ll get a good look at some of the players the San Diego Padres could be targeting in the 2020 MLB Draft.

Last week we started to profile potential first-round picks by taking a look at Spencer Torkelson.

As things stand today before the college and high school seasons begin, Torkelson, Hancock, and Vanderbilt’s Austin Martin — who I’ll profile later this week — are the clear front runners to go first overall.

So if one of those three fall to the Padres with their eighth pick, then something has probably gone wrong for them.

But you never know what might happen and maybe the Padres will get a chance to take Emerson Hancock in the draft.

Living in the Southeast I’ve gotten to see Hancock a couple of times in person. He’s given me one of those rare moments when you see someone play in person and you know right away they’re going to be a star.

That was the feeling I had when I watched Hancock dominate an Alabama lineup during his freshman season with electric stuff.

The 6-foot-4 righty was up-and-down during that freshman season in 2018 and finished with a 5.10 ERA in 77.2 innings with 75 strikeouts.

But he put it all together in his sophomore season posting a 1.99 ERA in 90.1 innings with 97 strikeouts.

However, he missed two starts in April with a lat strain and didn’t finish the season on a great note giving up 12 earned runs in his last four starts. He had only given up 8 earned runs in his first 10 starts of the 2019 season.

If he were to continue to struggle with that injury in his junior season it’s quite possible he falls down some draft boards.

Projections and comparisons

I’ve seen a lot of places try to compare him to Casey Mize — another SEC right-handed pitcher who was recently taken number one overall.

But Casey doesn’t throw nearly as hard and he has a much better feel for four pitches that allows him to tally up the strikeouts.

Mize struck out 109 batters his sophomore year in 83.2 innings and 156 in his junior season in 114.2 innings.

Hancock will need to develop that third pitch a little more before he gets to that level and becomes a strikeout machine.

I’ll go with another SEC pitcher in Brady Singer who was recently taken 18th overall in the 2018 MLB Draft.

Singer also throws in the mid-90s with a good slider, and he also struck out a batter an inning in college.

That may make some people question if Hancock should go in the first five picks, but with Hancock you’re expecting that upside and for him to take that next step forward and become more of a strikeout pitcher like a Casey Mize.

And Singer did very well in his first full season in pro ball with a 2.85 ERA in 148.1 innings with 138 strikeouts. MLB Pipeline ranks Singer as the 52nd best prospect overall and projects him to be a top of the rotation starter.

I think you should expect that same thing for Hancock except that he has the upside to be an ACE if he develops his secondary stuff further.

He would have to take a huge step back in order to fall to the Padres at eight. My prediction is that he’ll go fourth overall to the Kansas City Royals (who, by the way, also have Singer).