Hancock, who fired two perfect innings with three strikeouts against the Athletics in his Cactus League debut Saturday, has impressed manager Scott Servais with his aggressiveness thus far this spring, Daniel Kramer of MLB.com reports. "I love that's where he's at right now," Servais said.
Hancock still faces an uphill battle to snag an Opening Day spot if the Mariners' projected rotation makes it out of spring training unscathed, but he's been giving Servais something to think about since arriving in camp. The talented but oft-injured right-hander told the Seattle skipper in an earlier conversation he wanted to break camp with the big-league club, and he took the first official step toward forcing the issue Saturday with his dominant performance, which featured an improved fastball that sat between 94 and 96 mph, a changeup that got up to 90 mph and a cutter-slider hybrid that he's been working on. "I put a lot of work in this offseason trying to get back on track, get the velo back up," Hancock said. "And then ... when I get my work, I'm done. I don't want to overwork. I want to make sure that when I go into a start, I'm as fresh as possible."