MacKenzie Gore

Part of the Nationals' return from the Padres for Juan Soto in August of 2022, Gore is coming off a good-not-great first full MLB season. Well, it wasn't actually a completely full season because the Nats shut him down in early September due to a blister on his left index finger. That's a non-issue now, though, and the young southpaw will be looking to build this year on the things he did best in 2023. One of the hardest-throwing lefties in the sport, Gore used his fastball and power slider to strike out 151 batters over 136.1 innings, delivering a 26.0 strikeout percentage that ranked top-20 among the 87 big-league pitchers who logged more than 130 innings last year. If he can rein in his command and find more trust in the other elements of his five-pitch arsenal, the groundwork will be laid for Gore to quickly rise up the ranks of dependable fantasy starters. At the moment, the dependability is still a bit in question.

Say it with us: there is no such thing as a pitching prospect. For all the hype Gore has had in the minors, he has averaged 50 innings a season in the minors over five seasons of work at that level and his time in the majors this past season was also disrupted by an elbow issue. While he was able to avoid surgery, his fantasy outlook certainly changed when he was traded from the situation in San Diego to the mess in Washington for the forseeable future. Gore's fastball performed decently enough, but his breaking stuff was simply too hittable as both his curveball and slider had actual and expected batting averages .250 or higher. Remove the name from the situation, and you have a pitcher whose secondary stuff is still developing pitching for a team that is very likely to finish last in its division, maybe even by a healthy margin. Reset leagues should have little to no interest in this situation for 2023 while keeper and dynasty leagues can approach things differently if he is not already rostered in either situation.

Gore was the consensus top pitching prospect in baseball in 2019, but he struggled so much in 2021 that he spent time in the Arizona Complex League and didn't necessarily look like a future starter against rookie-level hitters. Through nine innings of big-league spring training, he has elevated his stock, striking out 11 while giving up just two runs and five baserunners. At the very least, he is back on the redraft radar and could push for starts early this season. Whether he can successfully turn a big-league lineup over twice remains to be seen, but at least for now, things are trending up.

Those highest on Gore thought he would debut in 2020, even in a shortened season, so the fact that he did not is relevant. The Padres maintain Gore was not promoted in part because they want him to debut in the rotation, not the bullpen, which is supposedly why Luis Patino got the call over him in August. He was on the postseason taxi squad, but it was Ryan Weathers whom the Padres turned to when they allowed a left-handed pitching prospect to make his MLB debut in a playoff game, not Gore. If they thought Gore was up for debuting in the rotation, they would have found room for him, so the fact is, he was kept down for performance reasons. He struggled with his command for much of the summer and needs to get more consistent with his secondary offerings. Gore's upside remains high and there have been no reports of an injury, so he will once again be a player to track this spring.

Gore turns 21 in February and finished 2019 with five starts at Double-A, so he is well ahead of schedule. Even so, one pitcher under 23 qualified for leaderboards last year, so we should never assume that a 21- or 22-year-old pitcher is ready to provide positive fantasy value. Other than left-handedness, there is nothing we would say about Gore that we wouldn't have said about Forrest Whitley a year ago, and we know how Whitley's 2019 played out. Gore has prototypical size (6-foot-3, 195 pounds), four plus pitches and plus control. If he avoids significant arm injuries, he should be one of the game's top starting pitchers during his prime, but realistically we are still a few years away from the beginning of his prime. San Diego likes to aggressively promote prospects, so there is a scenario where he spends a good chunk of the year in the big-league rotation, but don't pay for the best-case scenario.

In early April, farm director Sam Geaney said publicly that the Padres were intent on fast-tracking Gore through the minor-league ranks. Unfortunately, injuries -- namely blister issues -- got in the way. A blister on Gore's left hand forced him to the DL to begin the season, and he struggled mightily in two starts upon his return before the issue put him right back on the shelf. Gore went on a brilliant run shortly after his return in June, posting a 2.25 ERA, 1.03 WHIP and 43:13 K:BB over a seven-start stretch (32 innings) and reminding everyone why he is one of the most highly-regarded left-handed pitching prospects in the game. Gore's season ended prematurely due to a fingernail problem and he finished with just 60.2 innings, all at the Low-A level. The lost development time likely takes a 2019 debut off the table, but if he can build up past 110 innings or so this season, Gore could be a rotation regular for most of 2020.

The 2017 draft had a lot of high-end pitching talent, but Gore stands out as the cream of the crop. A prep product from North Carolina, Gore was drafted third overall by the Padres, receiving a slightly over-slot $6.7 million bonus. The 6-foot-2 lefty made his pro debut in the AZL and struck out five or more in five of his seven starts, despite never going more than four innings. Gore utilizes a mid-90s fastball and a knee-buckling curveball, both of which are at least plus pitches. He features a unique, straightened leg kick that comes up to his chin -- a timing mechanism that he is able to repeat from pitch to pitch. Gore’s intensity on the mound is another separator among his peers. In just 21.1 innings, he has already established himself as one of the game’s best pitching prospects. He should be one of the first few players from last year’s draft to come off the board in dynasty leagues, and has the potential to cruise to the upper levels of the minors.