The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
UGA pitcher Hancock picked No. 6 by Seattle
ATHENS — Emerson Hancock wasn’t quite ready to leave Georgia, but Major League Baseball made it worth his while.
Hancock intended to be playing in the College World Series on Wednesday. But he also grew up hoping to play in the big leagues one day, and Hancock came a step closer to realizing that dream when he was selected by the Seattle Mariners with the No. 6 pick in Wednesday’s MLB draft.
That put him in a tie for the Bulldogs’ second-highest draft selection of all-time, joining Derek Lilliquist, who went sixth to the Braves in 1987. Jeff Pyburn remains the Bulldogs’ highest draft pick, going No. 5 to San Diego in 1980.
Hancock was projected to go as high as No. 2 Wednesday. As it is, the 6-foot-4, 213pound right-hander became the 11th first-round draft selection in Georgia baseball history. His selection gave the SEC four of the top six picks Wednesday.
The Bulldogs stood a chance of ending up with two firstround picks in Wednesday night’s first round, which was complete at press time. Righthanded pitcher Cole Wilcox, a sophomore, also received consensus first-round grades heading into the draft. Wilcox getting a first-round call would give Georgia its first first-round pair since shortstop Gordon Beckham and pitcher Josh Fields in 2008 (eighth and 20th, respectively). Lilliquist and Cris Carpenter went sixth and 14th in 1987.
If the coronavirus pandemic had not halted sports nationwide, Hancock and Wilcox very well could still be playing for Georgia. The Bulldogs, at 14-4 and ranked No. 2 in the nation, were on a bus traveling to play No. 1 Florida when the team was ordered back to Athens after the SEC’s decision to cease all sports activity. Hancock, UGA’s ace and Friday-night starter, was 2-0 at the time with a 2.75 ERA, 34 strikeouts and only three walks. In his Bulldogs career, Hancock is 16-7 with a 3.47 ERA in 33 appearances, all starts. He has 206 strikeouts and 55 walks in 192 innings.
In two seasons, Wilcox is 6-2 with a 3.38 ERA in 23 appearances including 10 starts. Wilcox earned second-team
All-American honors from Collegiate Baseball in 2020 after going 3-0 with a 1.57 ERA. He had 32 strikeouts and two walks in 23 innings.
In interviews leading to the three-day draft, Hancock insisted that returning to UGA was an option. “Obviously, I love the university,” he said in an interview a week ago. “The two years I’ve spent there are two of the best years of my life, not only in baseball but my growth as a person. On the other side of that, it could be something that fulfills a lifelong dream. Either way, I look it as a win-win for sure.”
Hancock and Wilcox were the top tier of more than a halfdozen Georgia players hoping to get a call from a major league team. Normally a 40-round event, the draft was trimmed to five rounds this year in a cost-cutting measure for professional baseball. Rounds two through five will be held today. Among the Bulldogs considered top 500 prospects are junior left-hander Ryan Webb, senior shortstop Cam Shepherd, junior outfielder Tucker Bradley, junior left-hander C.J. Smith, junior infielder Riley King and sophomore outfielder Ben Anderson.