MacKenzie Gore Stats & Scouting Report — College Baseball, MLB Draft, Prospects
Emily Bell TRACK RECORD: Gore led tiny Whiteville (N.C.) High to three state championships in four years and won BA’s High School Player of the Year award in 2017. The Padres drafted him third overall and signed him for a franchise-record $6.7 million to forgo an East Carolina commitment. Gore’s first full season was interrupted by recurring blisters that sent him to the injured list three times, but he flourished with full health in 2019. Gore posted the lowest ERA (1.69) and WHIP (0.83) of any pitcher in the minors who threw at least 100 innings despite spending the year at hitter-friendly high Class A Lake Elsinore and Double-A Amarillo, and he 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.
SCOUTING REPORT: Gore 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. His fastball ranges from 91-96 mph and sits at 93-94. The pitch gets on hitters faster than they expect, resulting in a lot of late swings and misses in the strike zone. Gore’s 83-87 mph slider with tight spin and late break is another plus pitch he can locate to both sides of the plate, but there are days his 76-79 mph curveball with late, 1-to-7 snap is his better breaking ball. He rarely has a feel for both of them in the same game and often has to pick one. Gore’s 79-83 mph changeup features late sink at the bottom of the zone and is another plus pitch the few times he throws it. Gore 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.
THE FUTURE: Gore’s ability to throw four quality pitches for strikes gives him front-of-the-rotation potential, but he’s going to have to maintain his high-maintenance delivery. The Padres plan to take it slow and start him back at Double-A in 2021.
