Like much of the Nationals team, Mackenzie Gore has shown flashes but hasn’t put it all together yet. However, he is further along in his maturation process than many of the team’s younger players. 2024, Goa Posted He posted a 3.90 ERA and 3.53 FIP in 166.1 innings. This has made him more productive as an MLB pitcher, but the 25-year-old still has a lot of potential.
Gore’s FIP of 3.53 was in the top 20 among eligible pitchers, showing he can take a step forward even if he doesn’t see improvement. However, I believe Gore can make strides as a pitcher. There’s a great video by pitch analyst Lance Brozdowski highlighting some of the changes Gore might make to his pitch mix (please link here). He also compared Gore to Yusei Kikuchi, revealing that Yusei Kikuchi made tweaks to his arsenal that led to explosive growth in his work, and hypothesized that Gore made similar changes. Ta.
These changes could take Gore away from a solid, above-average big league starter and turn him into the ace the Nationals hope to be. He has very good points and is still very young for a starting pitcher. The best starters in many games don’t make the big leap to becoming aces until they’re in their late 20s. Max Scherzer is a great example. He appeared in his first All-Star Game when he was 28 years old, but it was always clear that he had great things.
Goa has a habit of fainting in the summer. He always starts the season very well, but ends around June. As of the end of May of this year, Gore had an ERA of 2.91. However, by August 6, his ERA had ballooned to 4.66. The good performance saved Goa’s season and made his prospects for 2025 much brighter. But if he can avoid such a precipitous drop midway through the season, we could be in for something special.
One thing to keep an eye on is what the velocity of Gore’s fastball will be. His fastball went from 95 mph in 2023 to 96 mph in 2024. For the first few months I was only going about 97 mph, but as the season progressed I slowed down a bit. If he can maintain that speed or get back to his early 2024 level, it will help his overall arsenal.
Gore has the highest ceiling of any Nats pitcher on the roster. His fastball is great, even if he was a little overused in 2024. He also has a wealth of quality second pitches and can use some pretty good command when he’s at his best. Gore has the ability to be a monster and the Nationals need him. He’s the only pitcher on the roster with the ability to be a true ace.
The team has other solid pitchers, and the rotation won’t work as designed unless Gore takes the next step. You can’t build a rotation with only the No. 4 starter, and if the pitching on the Nats’ roster stagnates, there will be a ton of No. 4 and No. 5 starters. For the Nationals’ rotation to avoid mediocrity, Mackenzie Gore needs to make a leap.
