Mariners Moose Tracks, 7/17/22: Emerson Hancock, Juan Soto, Nelson Cruz

[Extremely Lou Reed voice] It’s Suuuuuuuunday morning and here are your Mariners links for the morning of the day of the last games before the All-Star Break.

In Mariners news:

• In case you missed the Futures Game yesterday, which you probably did because it aired exclusively on Peacock because MLB truly cannot be arsed to care for the literal future of the game when dollar dollar bills are on the table, Emerson Hancock absolutely shoved in his inning. He struck out the side, including top prospects Zac Veen (although on a very shaky called strike three) and Jordan Lawlar. His fastball sat at 96 and winged up to 97 on his last pitch of the inning, paired with a filthy, swing-and-miss changeup, and showed an ability to hit his spots at will, especially pounding the bottom of the zone with his fastball. He worked ahead of batters and controlled every at-bat. It was universally agreed upon by the game’s commenters (including former Mariner Yonder Alonso, hi Yonder) that Hancock’s inning was the dominant pitching performance of the day, which is pretty lofty praise considering the number of Top-100 prospects in the game.

• I want to call attention to this play one more time because I’m not sure this got the attention it deserved at the time. Raleigh’s saving stab here prevents the runner from taking third with just one out, which keeps this at-bat from transforming into a sacrifice situation, and keeps the hopes for a Mariners win intact. It’s just an incredible piece of athleticism from someone who I think doesn’t always get enough credit for his athleticism.

• The look on this kid’s face is so relatable, though:

Around the League:

• The Red Sox are placing Trevor Story on the IL with a hand contusion. The IL stint is retroactive to 7/13, so he’ll be eligible to return in a week.
• The other big story from the Futures Game, in addition to Hancock’s sterling inning, was this throw from Cardinals prospect Masyn Winn, breaking the record for the fastest throw recorded by Statcast on the infield (which was just set recently by the Pirates’ Oneil Cruz):

• Trade season has started, although slowly, as the Blue Jays and Royals made a minor swap, with Kansas City sending lefty Foster Griffin to Toronto for RHP Jonatan Bernal. Conveniently the two teams were playing each other at the time, so Griffin just had to walk across the field to join his new ballclub.
• Nelson Cruz, GM of the DR? I’m already so excited for the WBC:

• Juan Soto has reportedly rejected an extension offer from the Nationals for $440M/15 years and now the team might look to trade him. We’ll have more on this later so don’t go clogging up the Moose Tracks comments with Soto speculation, save it for the article.
• Latest All-Star roster adjustments: José Altuve was named a starter but will sit out the ASG, so Cleveland’s Andrés Giménez gets the start at second instead. Santiago Espinal has been named to the team as well. Ty France, as you may know, stays snubbed.
• Speaking of All-Star Games, Dae-ho Lee’s farewell tour continues:

Kate’s pick:

Cody Bellinger biopic when? If we can make a three-hour movie about Elvis we can send a camera crew to follow Bellinger around 24/7.