How Georgia’s Emerson Hancock, Cole Wilcox are preparing for MLB draft amid pandemic
Emerson Hancock’s workouts sound a little different these days. When the junior pitcher works out with his Georgia teammates in Athens, his music choices don’t always win out.
But now, as Hancock prepares to be one of the top selections in June’s MLB Draft — being held amid the COVID-19 pandemic — he has his preferred country music blaring as he readies for his life to change forever.
“At the end of the day, it’s out of my control,” Hancock said. “There’s nothing I can do about it anymore other than just pray on it, think about the decision and then whatever happens, that’s what’s going to happen.”
The Bulldogs played their last game of the season March 11. In the days that followed, the college baseball season was first postponed and later canceled.
The abrupt end to the season also likely halted the pitching careers of a pair of talented Bulldogs. Hancock and fellow starter Cole Wilcox, himself a projected first-round pick, have likely thrown their last pitches in red and black, although neither has officially declared to be leaving Georgia.
In 33 career starts, Hancock finished with a 16-7 record with a 3.47 earned run average. In 192 innings, Hancock struck out 206 batters and walked just 55.
Wilcox had gotten off to a dominant start this year in his first season as a full-time starter. He went 3-0 with a 1.57 ERA in four starts before the season ended. The memories he planned on making with the rest of his teammates through the rest of 2020 were instead put on hold.
“The season ending like that just kind of cuts out two and a half months of memories out of your life, really, that you could be out there playing with your teammates, traveling on the road, going different places,” Wilcox said. “You know that you’ll never play with that group of guys again.”
Hancock expressed regret that his team didn’t get another chance to advance to the College World Series, saying he believed the group had its best baseball still in front of it. But looking back on his college career, he sees how much the coaching staff helped him develop into the pitcher he is now.
“I get to work with some of the best coaches in the country in (pitching coach Sean) Kenny, (strength and conditioning coach Ryan) Gearheart, (head coach Scott) Stricklin, (associate head coach Scott) Daeley,” Hancock said. “When you get to interact with those people every single day on top of our sports medicine staff, it’s just unbelievable.”
\Shortly after the coronavirus outbreak began, Hancock returned home to Cairo and began to train. He bought a net with a strike zone outlined on it to work on his game even while alone.
All this came while Hancock adjusted to online classes like every other Georgia student. The transition went well, with the College Sports Information Directors of America Academic All-District Team member just missing out on a 4.0 GPA due to an A-minus in a management course.
Closing in on MLB draft
As the semester wound down around the beginning of May, contact with Major League Baseball organizations picked up. Both Hancock and Wilcox held Zoom video meetings with numerous MLB teams, who inquired about their backgrounds and how they developed during their time in Athens.
“A lot of people have their opinions on me,” Hancock said. “I love to compete, I love to win and I love to work hard. I like to keep it as simple as that.”
Normally at this time of the year, the duo would be focused on the SEC and NCAA tournaments instead of the draft. But with the sports world at a standstill, they have plenty of time to work on their own games and areas of improvement that teams might want to see as their careers head to the next level.
The draft is June 10-11, will last five rounds and be held virtually.
“You’ve got a lot of extra time on your hands and you’ve got to take advantage of it,” Hancock said. “Any time you go in the weight room, you’ve got to do a certain movement to just get better at that. When it comes back in, you can really see yourself improve throughout this time.”
Wilcox said he’s in completely different shape than he would be if the season had continued. He’s cut back on throwing, mainly to avoid unnecessary stress on his throwing arm, while also building muscle through strength workouts sent to him by Gearheart.
“You’re on a schedule when you’re in the season and obviously your team relies on you to follow that schedule to be successful,” Wilcox said. “But now, it’s just kind of, team’s still relying on you to be good on your own, but you just have to be disciplined, get on a schedule, get on a routine where you’re not just sleeping in and missing days.”
However, he hasn’t had to work out alone. Wilcox and fellow Bulldog Chaney Rogers grew up together in Chickamauga, and they’ve been hitting the gym together to stay in shape during the pandemic.
Throughout the whole process, Hancock and Wilcox have had each other. The two are very close, as Hancock said they talk often and they’ve even been discussing a visit sometime in the near future.
As the biggest night of their baseball lives draws closer, each player has been comforted by having a friend to lean on.
“It’s a guy that you’re close with that you know you can really talk to, bounce ideas off of him and he bounces them off of me,” Wilcox said. “He’s been a leader to me since I got on campus, he’s helped me out a lot. Taught me how to work hard, taught me how to be humble through success.”
Hancock and his family will have some sort of gathering in accordance with health guidelines either in Cairo or in Athens. As both Bulldog stars wait for their names to be called, they will have the opportunity to reflect on all those who have enabled them to get to this point.
“It’s times like this when you really think about the people who’ve helped you along the journey,” Hancock said. “It’s times like this where you really appreciate the sacrifices my parents have made, but also so many people at Georgia but also within my family that I’m just really grateful and thankful for.”