In 2017, before his senior year at Whiteville High School in NC, he had already committed to East Carolina University. As a junior, he was 12–1 with a 0.08 earned run average (ERA) and 174 strikeouts in 88  innings. During the season, he threw a no-hitter with 18 strikeouts.

MacKenzie's sister, Meredith, who is a year-plus older than Gore, has cerebral palsy, or a derivative thereof. She has earned her health management degree. And she has been McKenzie's hero, mentor and leader.

May 31, 2017: Gore was tabbed as Gatorade’s national baseball player of the year.

Gore was the 2016-17 Gatorade National Player of the Year. He posted absurd numbers in his final two seasons at Whiteville High School in North Carolina, going 23-1 with a 0.13 ERA.

MacKenzie is the best player to come through a Whiteville program that produced first-round picks Tommy Greene (1985) and Patrick Lennon (1986). Gore’s consistent excellence, selflessness and work ethic helped make him a three-time state champion, the No. 3 overall pick this year by the Padres and, now, the Baseball America High School Player of the Year.

The 6-foot-2 southpaw’s stats jump off the page. He went 11-0 with a 0.19 ERA and allowed just three runs all season, only two of which were earned. Gore used a lethal four-pitch mix to strike out 158 batters over 74.1 innings. Perhaps most impressive, he had the same number of complete games (five) as walks. During his four years in the North Carolina state playoffs, Gore went 15-0 and allowed just two earned runs in 99 innings.

“The biggest thing about MacKenzie, even from when he was a ninth grader, was his drive and his work ethic,” said Whiteville pitching coach Fielding Hammond. “And a lot of that goes back to his parents. They’ve always kept him humble.

“Coach Harwood has always done a good job making him keep that work ethic and keep that drive. I think everything else has kind of followed.”

Gore improved his velocity. He started pitching more like he would have to at the next level, mixing in off-speed pitches more frequently and on the rare occasions he was behind in counts.

What followed was Gore once again leading Whiteville back to a state championship and, despite his objections, a third state championship MVP award.

So Gore did what any humble, small-town, team-first Whiteville boy would do—what the best player in the country would do. He gave the award to someone else—Jake Harwood, the coach’s son who picked up the win in the second game of the state championship.

“My time was done,” Gore said. “I didn’t really need an MVP to end it. I just needed a state championship.” (Carlos Collazo - Baseball America - 7/02/2017)

July 11, 2017: When the Padres selected Gore with their highest Draft choice in eight years, they made it clear his athleticism had played a major factor in their decision. In no uncertain terms, they said, they had drafted "an athlete."

The best male high school athlete in the country, as it turns out.

In a ceremony in Los Angeles Gore was named the Gatorade Male Athlete of the Year. Among the past recipients are LeBron James, Dwight Howard, Kevin Love and Matt Barkley. Gore is just the second baseball player to win the award, joining Orioles righty Dylan Bundy, who took home the 2011 edition.

Along with the award, Gore is pictured on the cover of Sports Illustrated, along with sprinter/hurdler Sydney McLaughlin, who took home Female Athlete of the Year honors. (AJ Cassavell-MLB)

In 2017, Gore dominated AZL hitters, holding them to a .184 average and striking out 34 in just over 21 innings.

In 2018, the Baseball America Prospect Handbook rated Gore as the 2nd-best prospect in the Padres' organization. And he was still at #2 in 2019, behind only SS Fernando Tatis, Jr. But in the spring of both 2020 and again in 2021, MacKenzie was the Padres #1 prospect.

He was at #4 in the spring of 2022.

MacKenzie and Luis Patino have become close friends.  Gore and Patino, the No. 2 and No. 6 prospects in the Padres’ system spent time together in the Rookie-level Arizona League in 2017 and were together with Class A Fort Wayne in 2018 as well.

While their upbringings, as well as the languages they grew up speaking, were different, each pitcher recognized the talent in the other, and a friendship was born.  “Mac is an amazing guy,” Patino said. “For me, Mac is a friend, my best friend here from America. I think this guy is amazing, professional, personal, he’s amazing. He talks with me a lot about baseball, about life.”

Friendships rely heavily on communication, and when the two parties are from different countries that can prevent a bit of a barrier. That hasn’t been as much of a challenge in Spring Training 2019 for the Padres prospects, though, as Gore helps Patino with English and Patino helps Gore with Spanish.

“Sometimes when I [say] something bad, he tells me what is the [better way to say it].  Sometimes when I tell him Spanish, he only understands some things because his Spanish isn’t very good. I prefer to practice my English.”

Gore admits that his Spanish, while much improved from two years ago, it still “terrible.” On the other hand, Patino’s English has come a long way.  Patino studied English in Columbia but only knew some basic words, and now he is more comfortable and speaks the language as often as possible.  “He speaks pretty good English and I help him time to time when he messes up; I just correct him,” Gore said.

Of course, they help each other on the mound too.  “He’s got great stuff,” Gore said. “He’s got a really good slider. He’s got a good fastball, too. He’s really good and we help each other with things here and there.” 

Patino acknowledged the strength of each pitcher.  “He’s got a better curveball than me and I have a better slider than him,” Patino said. “Sometimes I give him advice about the slider and he gives me tips on the curveball.” 

In addition to discussing specific pitches, they also discuss mechanics, which has led to some similarities in their deliveries.  Gore has pitched with a massive leg kick for as long as he can remember. Patino didn’t enter pro ball with a huge leg kick, but after watching Gore pitch and discussing it a bit, the right-hander adopted the bigger leg kick and added it to his windup.

“I talked to him about his mechanics and he said, ‘Hey you copied me,’” Patino said. “I said, ‘No man. I do this because it feels good. I watched your mechanics, so I tried it and it feels good so now I do a leg kick, too.’”

As the saying goes, imitation is the sincerest form of flattery, and Gore doesn’t seem to mind sharing the leg-kick-spotlight.  If everything pans out the two friends are expected to be key components of the Padres’ future rotation and are likely to be pitching together in Petco Park in just a few seasons.  (Boor - mlb.com - 3/21/19)

July 2019: Gore represented the Padres at the Futures All-Star Game. He needed one inning on a big stage to remind the Padres why they believe the 20-year-old left-hander is going to be so special. In an organization flush with quality pitching, Gore is projected to be the best of them all.

He showed off some of those gifts, a 94 mph fastball and vaporizing slider, in a one-inning stint in the SiriusXM Futures Game at Progressive Field. Taking over in the bottom of the second inning, Gore walked Jo Adell to open the inning, then promptly showed a quality pickoff move, nailing him at first.

He retired the next two batters, finishing his inning in just 11 pitches and making another case for making his Major League debut, possibly as soon as 2020.

When the Padres selected MacKenzie out of high school with the No. 3 overall pick in the 2017 Draft, they knew they were getting a special talent. In 2019, just his second full season, the 20-year-old left-hander began to realize his potential, turning in a dominant campaign across two levels en route to MLB Pipeline’s Pitcher of the Year honors.

Gore was plagued by blister issues and logged a little more than 60 innings at Class A Fort Wayne in 2018, his first full season. Fully healthy in 2019, the Padres’ top prospect flashed his front-of-the-rotation ceiling at both Class A Advanced Lake Elsinore and Double-A Amarillo, posting a Minor League-best 1.69 ERA (100 IP min.) with 135 strikeouts and 28 walks in 101 innings (20 starts).

He also led the Minors in WHIP (0.83), ranked second in opponent average (.164), third in strikeout-to-walk rate (28.3 percent), and fifth in strikeout rate (35.7 percent).

“MacKenzie wasn’t quite himself in 2018, pitching with one hand tied behind his back, so to speak, so to really see him healthy from the beginning of the season to the end really allowed his stuff to shine through,” said Padres farm director Sam Geaney.

“Seeing the athleticism and the delivery; seeing the stuff that was coming out of his hand on a nightly basis; seeing how he went about his work between starts … I think it all contributed to the success he had on the mound.”  (Rosenbaum - mlb.com - 9/5/19)

2019 Season: Gore was named the Padres MLB Pipeline Pitcher of the Year. Gore is arguably the best pitching prospect in baseball, and he's coming off an otherworldly season on the mound, split between Class A Advanced Lake Elsinore and Double-A Amarillo. In 101 innings this year, Gore posted a 1.69 ERA with 135 strikeouts and a 0.83 WHIP.

Had he logged enough innings to qualify, Gore’s 1.02 ERA would have been the lowest by a Cal League starter ever, beating Bill Wegman’s 1.30 ERA for Stockton in 1983. Gore led the league in strikeout rate (12.5 per nine innings), opponent average (.137) and WHIP (0.71) when he was promoted to Double-A in July.

Jan 13, 2020: The Padres haven't overhauled their rotation this offseason, as many expected they would.

But they might still have an ace up their sleeve.

Top prospect Gore, ranked No. 4 overall by MLB Pipeline, should arrive in 2020. The Padres have never been shy about promoting their top prospects quickly, and Gore is expected to earn a big league Spring Training invite at some point this month. The 20-year-old left-hander will be given a chance to win a starting job, with two or three spots currently available at the back end of the San Diego rotation.

Even if Gore doesn't make the team, it won't be long before he makes an impact. On paper, the Padres' rotation could probably use another front-line arm. But internally, there's a belief that it wouldn't be wise to overspend on a starter when MLB Pipeline's top-ranked pitching prospect is waiting in the wings. That money, sources believe, might be allocated better for help on offense and in the bullpen.

Gore took part in Major League Baseball's Rookie Career Development Program, and he spoke with MLB.com about the program itself and his recent experiences in the Minors.

"It's awesome," Gore said of the program. "You get to see all the guys you're going to see a lot of in the next few years, and you get to be around them. I'm just going to enjoy it and see what I can learn."

Gore posted a 1.69 ERA with 135 strikeouts in 101 innings between Class A Advanced and Double-A last season. He was named as MLB Pipeline's pitcher of the year in September, and he was asked to reflect on his trip to the SiriusXM All-Star Futures Game in Cleveland last summer.

"It was a lot of fun,” he said. "I met a lot of new guys and was there with some teammates, which was pretty cool. And just being out there in a big league stadium . . . it was pretty awesome."

It might not be long until Gore finds himself back on a big league mound. The Padres have only made one change to their rotation this winter, landing righty Zach Davies from Milwaukee, while giving up lefty Eric Lauer in the same deal.

That leaves plenty of opportunity available at the back end of the rotation, and general manager A.J. Preller has given every indication that Gore and fellow top prospect Luis Patiño will get a chance. But Preller has also made it explicitly clear that the two must earn their place on the big league club. (AJ Cassavell - MLB.com - Jan 13, 2020)

2020 Season: MacKenzie  entered 2020 considered arguably the top pitching prospect in baseball. Gore looked sharp in spring training, but after the coronavirus pandemic shut camps down, he arrived at summer camp in July with his delivery out of sync. He spent the season at the alternate training site smoothing that out and improved toward the end of the year.

MLB debut (April 15, 2022):  The 23-year-old Padres lefty made his Major League debut against Atlanta at Petco Park. He didn't figure in the decision in a 5-2 Braves win but he showed the kind of dominant, top-of-the-rotation stuff that San Diego hoped they were getting when they drafted him in 2017.

Gore struck out the first batter he faced, Braves All-Star Ozzie Albies, with a fastball high in the strike zone. He went 5.1 innings and allowed just two runs, one when he left a heater over the middle of the plate and Albies got him back with a solo homer and another on a bloop single by Marcell Ozuna.

Gore struck out three and walked a pair in place of the injured Blake Snell.  (Derek Togerson)

For a brief time around the beginning of August, Joe Musgrove and MacKenzie Gore discussed a specific idea with particular excitement. Musgrove, the embodiment of a hometown kid, had just agreed to a long-term contract with the Padres. Gore, a rookie and beacon of homegrown hope, had received positive news regarding his left elbow. Now, their futures appeared to be aligning.

On Aug. 1, Musgrove signed an extension worth $100 million over five years — five more years that he and Gore could spend pitching together, in the same rotation.

Then, on Aug. 2, reality intervened. The Padres had sent Gore, along with five others, to Washington in an industry-shaking trade for Juan Soto and Josh Bell.

Although Gore’s name was rumored in potential trades for weeks, the news of his imminent departure caught him off guard. He had been in the Padres organization since they drafted him in 2017. The former top prospect had ridden a rollercoaster through the minor leagues and emerged as a 23-year-old big leaguer. In San Diego this season, he had come to view his fellow starting pitchers as “older brothers,” none closer than Musgrove. Being uprooted from a playoff contender and a second family initially left Gore stunned and upset.

“I struggled with it,” Gore said over the weekend at Petco Park. “It’s been tough, but I’m in a really good place here with D.C. But yeah, the trade, it was not easy. It’s still not super easy.”

Musgrove, meanwhile, experienced mixed emotions. The 29-year-old was the one staying for the foreseeable future, not abruptly leaving to join a rebuilding team.

“I mean, you look at who we’re getting,” Musgrove said. “We get an opportunity to land a guy like Soto and to get Bell along with it. It’s hard. You know, I think anybody would probably take that deal. The trade makes sense. I don’t like to see (Gore) go, but that’s kind of the nature of the business.”

Of course, the same business is what brought them together. Gore rose to national prominence as a high schooler starring in small-town North Carolina. Musgrove bloomed later in his career as an El Cajon, Calif., native who always possessed the talent. This spring, Musgrove’s second with the Padres, they began to form a friendship. This season, the older pitcher has served as a mentor to his younger counterpart. A cross-country trade has altered, but not ended, that dynamic.

“I told him when he gets right, he’s back in there throwing, I’m always here to talk and stuff,” Musgrove said. “I’ll continue to reach out to him as he grows. And it’s a relationship that will carry on through different teams.”

“I can’t say enough good things about him,” Gore said.

Despite disparate backgrounds and different pitching hands, Musgrove and Gore discovered plenty of common ground. Both are avid competitors. Both have faced unusual pressure — Musgrove as a native San Diegan pitching for the Padres, Gore as a long-hyped prospect who endured consecutive lost seasons in the minors. Before Aug. 2, the two had spent weeks discussing the mental side of the game. Gore had gone from acing his first two months in the majors, to losing his command and peak velocity, to landing on the injured list with elbow inflammation.

Over the weekend, amid another Padres-Nationals reunion, Gore appeared to be in good spirits. He was progressing toward the long-toss portion of his rehabilitation. He was aiming to return from the injured list in September, when he hopes to make at least a couple of starts before the big-league season ends. And he expressed gratitude for Musgrove, his main major-league influence to date.

“I took a lot from him, especially the kind of stuff that not everybody sees in the training room and stuff like that,” Gore said. “San Diego’s got a good one.” 

Still, at least one Padre will continue to follow Gore’s career with particular interest.

“He’s not only my friend, but I like who he is as a pitcher,” Musgrove said. “And we had some bonds, and we shared some things here that he’ll be my friend for life. Obviously, I want success for him.” (Lin-TheAthletic-Aug 22,2022)

Aug 31-Sept 5, 2023: Gore was on the bereavement list.

TRANSACTIONS

June 2017: The Padres chose Gore in the first round, out of Whiteville High School in NC. He signed in July, receiving $6.7 million, via scout Nick Brannon.

August 2, 2022: In a big trade deadline deal, the Padres got:  OF Juan Soto and 1B Josh Bell.

The Nationals got:  SS C.J. Abrams, LHP MacKenzie Gore, 1B Luke Voit, OF Robert Hassell III (Padres' No. 1 prospect/No. 21 overall), OF James Wood (Padres' No. 3/No. 88 overall), and RHP Jarlin Susana (Padres' No. 14).

Gore, a lefthander, has feel for spotting his sneaky 91-98 mph FASTBALL that he is able to sink or cut in on righthanded batters, or run in away from them. It has a 60 grade and gets on hitters from near-7-feet extension, so it gets on hitters faster than they expect, resulting in a lot of late swings and misses in the strike zone.

He can spin a tight 78-80 mph 55 grade 1-to-7 CURVEBALL. He also has tight late break on an 84-86 mph SLIDER with loose spin, and horizontal tilt that gets an above-average 60 grade; it's a pitch he can locate on either side of the plate. And he has a 55 grade 80-83 mph CHANGEUP with sinking and tumbling action at the bottom of the zone that entices hitters to swing and miss it. 

MacKenzie's mechanics fell out of sync at the alternate training site in 2020 and he looked like a shell of himself in 2021 at Triple-A El Paso, where he posted a 5.85 ERA in six starts before being demoted to extended spring training. Gore spent two months at the Padres’ complex in Peoria, Ariz. addressing his mechanical deficiencies and finished the 2021 season on an upswing, but he was still hit and miss in the Arizona Fall League with a 6.35 ERA in three starts.

Gore's 60 grade fastball always allowed his secondaries to play up. Without that pitch in prime shape, his game fell apart. His arm was late, his elbow was dipping below his shoulder upon release, his velocity was down, and his secondary pitches backed up.

“From a stuff standpoint—I think velocity and the quality of his pitches—I think that was a big positive for us,” Padres general manager A.J. Preller said. But he’ll be the first to tell you he’s still got to tighten up a few things from a command standpoint, just get a little bit sharper . . . with some of his secondary pitches and his fastball command, but it was fun seeing him back out there.

“He had some dominant moments. And now we’ve got to make it more consistent.”

Gore resurfaced in mid-August with the athleticism and quickness back in his signature leg kick and quieted some of the upper body movement in his windup. The result was his fastball again sitting in the mid 90s and touching 98, which in turn helped his secondaries. Gore’s command remains inconsistent, and he still battles his mechanics at times, but his misses off the plate were much smaller after he returned. 

The Padres still believe Gore is a potential front-of-the-rotation starter, but he’ll have to improve his command to approach that ceiling. He was added to the 40-man roster in November and is in position to make his big league debut in 2022. (Jeff Sanders - Baseball America Prospect Handbook - Spring, 2022)

2022 Pitch Usage/Avg. Velo: Fastball 61% - 94.8 mph; Curve 17.5% - 81 mph; Slider 16% - 87.4 mph; Change 5.8% - 85 mph.

2023 Season Pitch Usage/Avg. Velo: Fastball 59% - 95 mph; Slider 19.6% - 88.5 mph; Curve 18% - 83 mph; Change 3.5% - 87.7 mph.

2024 Season Pitch Usage/Avg. Velo: Fastball 55.3% - 96.2 mph; Change 9.3% - 86 mph; Slider 16% - 90.7 mph; Curve 19.4% - 83 mph.

Gore still employs the same ultra-athletic, high-leg kick delivery as when the Padres took him in the first round. The extension he generates towards the plate gives the left-hander’s fastball big carry and life through the zone, and hitters generally struggle to time the pitch. Gore’s slider has become his go-to breaking ball, having surpassed his curveball in the eyes of many evaluators, although the latter is still above average. He rounds out his four-pitch mix with a plus changeup that he can locate down in the zone with late sink. Gore pounds the strike zone and recorded one of the Minors' better swinging-strike rates in 2019.

The Padres would like to see Gore establish more consistency with his four pitches from outing to outing. The left-hander did make progress on that front in 2020, especially later in the year, but will require more fine-tuning before the Padres are ready to turn him loose in the Majors. That could still happen in 2021 as Gore takes his first step towards realizing his potential as a legitimate front-of-the-rotation starter. (Spring 2021)

Gore has 60 grade control. He throws everything for strikes with plus control when he’s right, but his delivery fell out of rhythm over the summer. Different observers alternately saw problems with his direction to the plate, his upper and lower body being disconnected and inconsistent timing with his arm stroke and release point. The result was a velocity drop into the low 90s and sharply reduced command. Gore worked through the summer to get back in sync and began looking more like his best self by the end of the season. He still is working to get all four of his pitches working at the same time.

MacKenzie is a tall, lanky lefthander whose elite athleticism is the foundation of his success. His delivery features a lot of moving parts, including a high leg kick where he brings his knee nearly to his collarbone, hands raised high above his head and a slight turn away from the batter, but he generally has the strength and body control to repeat his mechanics. Gore explodes out of his delivery with tremendous extension that helps his stuff play up. (Kyle Glaser - Baseball America Prospect Handbook - Spring, 2021)

Gore's athleticism on the mound is obvious, as the precocious lefty employs and consistently repeats an intense, high-leg-kick delivery before exploding towards the plate to generate huge extension over his front side. That extension gives Gore's fastball carrying life that elicits late, defensive swings from hitters on both sides of the plate, both in and outside the zone. Gore's big curveball, though still a plus pitch, has backed up a bit in the wake of his blister issue, while his slider has emerged as his go-to, and at times more consistent breaking ball. Gore's changeup is his least-used offering, though it too projects as plus, thrown with late tumbling action. He throws each of his four pitches for strikes and posted one of the Minors' better swinging-strike rates in his first fully healthy season.

Gore seldom had multiple secondary pitches working for him at the same time last season, and his out-pitch often varied from start to start. That he still managed to excel highlights his high floor, and club officials expect him to unlock another level of dominance as he learns how to consistently find and harness those offerings. Such adjustments should come quickly for Gore given his competitiveness and overall aptitude on the mound, and once that's in place, there should be nothing stopping him from becoming a true No. 1 starter. 

MacKenzie's exceptional athleticism sets him apart from other pitchers. He brings his knee nearly to his chin out of the windup during a sky-high leg kick, then explodes down and out over the mound to generate tremendous reach and extension. He consistently repeats his delivery.

Gore is a fearless competitor who works quickly, attacks hitters, and has an unshakable inner confidence.

"The stuff’s there,” Merriman said. "He’s got the big arm. Just helping him slow down in his mind really helped him breathe better, helped him think about what he wanted to do. And consequently, he was better at executing because he slowed some stuff down.”

Santos sits 96-97 mph with his fastball and has touched 100. When his slider is right, it’s consistently 88-89 mph. His changeup is in the 86 mph range.

"He has a tendency sometimes to slow his body down when he goes to throw some of his off-speed stuff,” Merriman said. "And that’s pretty typical for young power-arm guys who think they got to control that more instead of just throw it and trust it.” (Kyle Glaser - BA Prospect Handbook - Spring, 2020)

In 2019, MacKenzie showed everything the Padres hoped for, and more, when they signed him for a franchise-record $6.7 million as the No. 3 overall pick in 2017. 

Gore’s plus 60 grade control and aggressive demeanor tied it together, earning him a potential No. 1 starter projection from evaluators.

"There was a lot of confidence and aggressiveness in the zone from the really high-level stuff that he has,” Rancho Cucamonga manager Mark Kertenian said in 2019. "He did not back off one single pitch against us. We felt like he could pitch in the big leagues this year.”

"One of the most exciting things this year and going forward with Mac,” Padres farm director Sam Geaney said, "is he had a tremendous season with a lot of success, but there’s definitely more ceiling there—and not at all in a negative way. I think he showed us what he’s capable of. It’s a rare thing when a guy is as talented as he is and has had as much success as he’s had and we can call agree—and most importantly he agrees—there’s still levels beyond what he is doing.”

Geaney can say that because Gore, finally able to stay in a regular rotation, began to learn precisely how his body recovers. His knack for attacking the day’s tasks—whether it was a start, a bullpen or simply running—drew comparisons to Chris Paddack. The life on his fastball also ticked up from last year’s stop-and-go-and-stop campaign, and all of his secondaries all showed above-average or better at times. (Jeff Sanders - Baseball America - Oct., 2019)

The Padres were plenty pleased with Gore’s progress, especially the grit he showed in a trying 2018 season.

“Mac is a very competitive young man,” Padres farm director Sam Geaney said. “He definitely would have liked to have taken the ball more, but I think there are definitely some positives when he was out there.

“I thought he threw the baseball very well at times, punched guys out and didn’t walk guys. He missed some time with his injuries, but all these things are part of each player’s journey.”

“I’ve got a lot to work on,” Gore said. “I have to get a lot better. Pitching-wise, I have to get better in every aspect I can—my command, holding runners, everything. I have to get bigger and stronger and come into spring training ready to go.” (Jeff Sanders - Baseball America - 1/11/2019)

When healthy, Gore checks every box as a lean, premium athlete with a loose arm, sky-high leg kick and four pitches that flash plus. He gets good extension out front on his heater, so it gets on the hitter in a hurry.

In 2017, his senior year of high school, MacKenzie struggled to consistently get on top of his 1-to-7 curveball, but he showed tight spin and late vertical break with the pitch. At its best, the pitch flashed plus potential, diving down and away from lefthanded hitters.

MacKenzie has a really cool, "excuse me while I kiss the sky" leg kick followed by an extreme drop-and-drive delivery. It is a unique and unorthodox delivery that he repeats. He gets his entire body into it. He gets comps to Scott Kazmir with his powerful drive off the rubber. He gets good extension.

Gore has a pretzel-like windup, right knee to his left armpit, right toes nearly in line with his hands. He practices his delivery in his bedroom mirror each night.

Evaluators consider Gore's max-effort, yet flexible delivery, which appears comfortable for him at 17 years old, but how will it age?

If he doesn't simplify his mechanics, will it wear down his elbow/shoulder by or before his mid-20s?

Gores is a true athlete, with a high leg kick and hand pump and impressive balance over the rubber. Gore lands online and gets his torso deep out over his front side. He has a tendency to slide off his ankle as he lands. But he could gain better command as he gets stronger and gains stability.

By 2019, he had above-average command within the strike zone—a 60 grade.

Terrance gets Cole Hamels comparisons.

Gore rarely gives up a home run.

2019: Gore breaks down his repertoire, pitch grips:

Gore says his four-seam fastball is his most consistent offering. He usually operates at 93-95 mph and tops out at 97 with riding life up in the strike zone. He shows both the ability to command his fastball to both sides of the plate and to maintain his velocity deep into starts.

Gore has advanced feel for a 20-year-old pitcher, and his aptitude for throwing an at-times devastating changeup is one example of it. He maintains his arm speed when he throws his changeup, which has about 10 mph of separation from his fastball and tumbles at the plate. He grips his changeup between his ring and pinky fingers, with his thumb and middle finger forming a circle and his index finger making no contact with the ball at all.

"The changeup is kind of a funky one, off these two [fingers] on the end," Gore said. "Basically, I just started off throwing a circle change and as I got more comfortable, I just kept moving my fingers off of it. It's more like it moves straight down and moves away from a right-hander a little. I like the downward movement."

Scouts preferred Gore's curveball to his changeup when he was an amateur. It's still a weapon with upper-70s power and near 12-to-6 break. His slider is less consistent than his other pitches, but it can be a plus pitch at times, arriving in the mid-80s with cutter-like action.  (Jim Callis - MLB.com - March 11, 2019) 

2019 Season: Gore: The 20-year-old left-hander posted a Minor League-best 1.69 ERA (100 IP min.) with 135 strikeouts and 28 walks in 101 innings (20 starts) between Class A Advanced Lake Elsinore and Double-A Amarillo en route to honors as MLB Pipeline’s Pitching Prospect of the Year. Gore also led the Minors in WHIP (0.83), ranked second in opponent average (.164), third in strikeout-to-walk rate (28.3 percent) and fifth in strikeout rate (35.7 percent).

With 60s across the board — four plus pitches along with plus control — it’s hard to see him as anything but a frontline starter. Add in his projectable frame, his athleticism, his feel for pitching and the fact that he’ll be just 21 for all of the 2020 season, and it would be wrong to put any kind of ceiling on him.

2020 Season: The 2020 minor league season was canceled due to the pandemic, which forced Gore to spend his summer at the Padres alternate training site on the campus of the University of San Diego.

Oh, there was talk of him making a spot start during the shortened season, but that never came to fruition. Other pitchers in camp were promoted, but not Gore. The hold up might have been that Gore was not on the Padres 40-man roster. It would have forced them to move a player of value off the roster to create space for him. Plus, Gore’s promotion would begin his MLB service time clock, which determines when a player is eligible for salary arbitration and free agency.

Instead, Gore stayed at the alternate site and fine-tuned his pitching mechanics under the guidance of the Padres’ camp coordinators. Together, they worked on refining Gore’s delivery of his secondary (curveball, slider, and change-up) pitches to give them a different look off his outstanding fastball. (Thomas Conroy - Jan. 27, 2021)

2021 Season: The 22-year-old left-hander opened the year at Triple-A El Paso but posted a 5.85 ERA with 12 walks in 20 innings over six starts. San Diego moved him back to its Arizona facility to hone his mechanics, and Gore didn’t return to game action until Aug. 19 in the Rookie-level Arizona Complex League. He made additional stops at High-A Fort Wayne and Double-A San Antonio.  (Oct 13, 2021 - Sam Dykstra@SamDykstraMiLB)

April 15, 2022: Nearly five years ago, when the Padres drafted a skinny 18-year-old out of Whiteville High School in North Carolina, they envisioned nights like this one. Nights where Gore blew upper-90s fastballs past the defending champs and strutted coolly around the Petco Park mound like he owned it. They just couldn't have envisioned the path it would take for Gore to get here.

For two grueling summers, that breakthrough remained tantalizingly out of reach. And 2020 was a strange year for everyone. It was around then that Gore's mechanics deserted him. He struggled to throw strikes at the team's alternate training site. Those struggles lingered into '21, as Gore plummeted in the prospect rankings.

And then, Gore showed up to Padres camp in 2022 looking very much like the mega prospect he'd once been. In his first backfield sim game, Gore’s fastball hit 99 mph, and he blew away certifiable big league hitters. Quickly, it became apparent that this new-look Gore was not a mirage. Gore had tirelessly worked through those mechanical tweaks during the offseason. He dominated the Cactus League. At long last, he had earned that breakthrough.

Gore’s first start was a memorable one. He was sharp over 5 1/3 innings in the Padres’ 5-2 loss to Atlanta at Petco Park. Gore allowed two runs on three hits and two walks, leaving to a standing ovation with the game tied in the sixth before the Braves ultimately won a battle of the bullpens.

Gore boasts a legitimate four-pitch mix, with three off-speed offerings that he can generally count on as out pitches. But in his big league debut, it was all about the fastball. Gore threw heaters with 53 of his 73 pitches, to much success. (AJ Cassavell - MLB.com - April 16, 2022)

2022 Season: Gore made his major league debut in mid-April, posting a 4.50 ERA, a 4.12 FIP, 37 walks (4.76 BB/9), 72 strikeouts (9.26 K/9), and a .248/.346/.376 line against in 16 games, 13 starts, and 70 innings pitched for the Friars before he landed on the IL with left elbow inflammation on July 25th.

Gore got off to an impressive start in the majors, with a 1.50 ERA, a 2.20 FIP, 17 walks, 57 Ks, and a .200/.279/.241 line against in his first nine games, eight starts, and 48 IP for the Padres.

Over the seven games (and five starts) which followed, those numbers ballooned to an 11.05 ERA, 8.29 FIP, 20 walks, 15 Ks, and a .333/.454/.615 line against in 22 IP before the left elbow issue came up.  (Patrick Reddington@federalbaseball - Feb 8, 2023)

2023 nastiest pitch for Nationals—MacKenzie Gore's curveball.

One of the top prospects the Nationals got back for Juan Soto, Gore throws a beautiful, 12-6 curveball, which drops 52 inches but breaks less than one inch horizontally. (D Adler - MLB.com - Feb 8, 2023)

2023 Season: Gore looked brilliant at times this season, but certainly less often than the Nats hoped to see. When Gore was good, he was very good indeed; he made 7 of his 27 starts against American League teams, pitching to a low 2.15 ERA with generally strong peripherals.

But at other times, Gore struggled. He was particularly ineffective within the division, winning just two of his combined nine starts against division rivals and getting bodied for a loss in all three of his appearances against the Phillies.

Gore had showed some improvement in August before he was shut down in early September. The Nats will hope he learned from his up-and-down 2023 campaign — his first full season in the big leagues — and can mature into a solid mid-rotation starter. He did make 27 starts, which hardly qualifies him as an iron man but should be taken as encouraging after he came to the Nats in 2022 with significant health questions. (October 13, 2023 - SaoMagnifico)

2024 Season: Gore teased over his first 11 starts in 2023 (3.57 ERA and 74 strikeouts over 58.0 innings), but his WHIP (1.414) and home runs allowed (8) showed a riskier side to his game. He was up and down over his final 16 games (5.06 ERA, 1.391 WHIP, 19 home runs, and 77 strikeouts over 78.1 innings). His season ended in early September with blisters.

Despite showing growth in his ERA (3.90) and home runs allowed (0.8 per nine – 1.8 in 2022) in 2024, Gore finished with a poor WHIP (1.419), with some improvement in his walk rate (3.5). He hit 11 batters and threw 14 wild pitches (NL high). His arm was a liability against left-handed batters (.282 BAA) with only league-average value vs. righties (.257 BAA).

Other than a down day on June 3rd (six runs and 11 baserunners over 4.1 innings with two strikeouts), Gore pitched well in 14 games (3.26 ERA and 98 strikeouts over 80.0 innings) despite a poor WHIP (1.375). He didn’t belong in the majors over his next 10 games (7.09 ERA, 1.949 WHIP, and five home runs over 45.2 innings). Hidden in his 2024 season was “fantasy hope” over his final 40.2 innings (1.55 ERA, 0.910 WHIP, and 45 strikeouts), helped by a much lower walk rate (2.4).

His average fastball (96.1) was a career-best, but batters hit .279 against his four-seamer. Gore threw a losing changeup (.280 BAA) while having one pitch of value against right-handed (slider – .174 BAA) and left-handed (curveball – .217 BAA)  (Shawn Childs | Feb 12, 2025 - SI)

Gore’s only negative is he struggles holding runners. His pickoff move lacks deception, and at times he rushes through his delivery and loses command when opponents run on him.

2018: Gore's elbow and shoulder were fine in 2018, the problems were on his fingers. The Padres put Gore on the disabled list twice due to blister issues, so MacKenzie finished May with just eight innings pitched and didn't go more than five innings in a start until July. The blister issues returned on a fingernail at the end of August, so the Padres shut down Gore.

His fingernail issue—reportedly unrelated to the blister but on the same finger—ended his season in late August 2018.

“I never wanted to make excuses about it,” Gore said. “In my head I wanted to just figure out what was going on. I never wanted to say (my struggles) were because of my blister, but by the last start it was almost to the point where we . . . just had to call it quits.”

Sorting out the blister/fingernail issue is Job No. 1 as Gore prepares for his third year in the organization.

May 2021: In the minors, MacKenzie went on the IL with a blister injury.

July 25, 2022: Gore departed the series opener against the Tigers just 36 pitches into his outing, shaking his left hand repeatedly following the fifth-inning strikeout of Willi Castro. His velocity has varied enough in recent outings to raise an eyebrow but none of that was cause for concern until his early exit. The official diagnosis is elbow soreness, and manager Bob Melvin said the reliever will receive further testing once the Padres return home following the series finale in Detroit.

July 26-Oct 7, 2022: Gore was on the IL with left elbow inflammation, missing the second half of the season.

Sept. 9-Oct 2, 2023: Gore went on the 15-day IL with blisters on his finger.

Sept 20, 2023:  Manager Dave Martinez said the southpaw will not make another start this year.