Eno Sallis wrote this week in The Athletic that Mackenzie Gore appears to have done the necessary work to take the next step in his development, at least early in his third season in the majors.
Coach Sallis said, “Goa is this season…”
• Throw the four-seam faster at 2 mph for more ride comfort.
• Throw a slider 3 miles per hour faster.
• Throw the curve one tick harder to increase the drop.
• Changeups are almost two ticks slower to throw.
Starting at No. 3, Gore averaged 97 mph with his fastball, up from averages of 94.7 mph and 95.0 mph in his first two seasons in the majors.
After relying on his changeup 61% and 59.5% of the time in 2022 and 2023, respectively, his pitching rate has dropped slightly to 50.8%, and his changeup usage rate is 15.5% so far. That’s up from 5.2% in 2022 and 2.9. % last year, his curveball (17.1%) and slider (16.6%) have been pretty consistent thus far compared to previous seasons.
Mike Rizzo, GM and Head of Baseball Ops; A weekly visit with Audacy’s The Sports Junkies Fans on 106.7 said last Wednesday that they like what they’ve seen from the southpaw so far as Gore establishes himself as one of the true up-and-coming starters in the majors.
“He was great,” Rizzo told The Junkies about his early return to Goa in 2024. He has elite qualities and challenges batters more and hits the strike zone at a much faster pace. I think you can see his pitch selection is much more balanced than last year.Who started last phillies This was a dramatic jump from last season, as he was throwing a changeup of about 15-16 percent, in addition to a curve, slider, and four-seam fastball, and he used it as his fourth pitch. I’m trying to incorporate it into my repertoire. Watch it come, I think when that pitch comes, he’s really, really going to turn the corner. ”
Why is his changeup progress so important?
“Because he has all the power in the world,” Lizzo explained to Junkies. ”
Gore, who started Saturday’s game against the Athletics in Oakland, threw a hard fastball, throwing 52 of 90 pitches (58%) in five innings, with 28 swings and 12 whiffs on a heater. It stood up with an average speed of 97.1 mph. Until 97.8. Only five fastballs were thrown, and 11 of them resulted in fouls.
Gore struck out 11 of the 19 batters he faced, holding A’s batters to four hits and one walk during his time on the mound, and gave up one in his third holdup after a dominant run that lasted until the fifth inning. He built a lead of 0. The 25-year-old starter came on and ended up winning 3-1.
On this day, the starter had 20 swings and 15 called strikes.
“We knew we were lacking bats. We knew we were in a good position,” Gore said after the win. Quoted by Mark Zuckerman of MASN.
His manager liked that Gore relied on what was working for him and used his fastball heavily on the road.
“He threw really well, on both sides of the plate,” Martinez said. “The second pitch works really well when he’s doing that, but he wanted to establish his fastball, and he did a great job with that.”
“Then they have to be very conscious of their fastballs,” Gore explained. Quoted by MLB.com writer Jessica Camerato“…and the pitches that aren’t that difficult just look a lot better.
“I’ve been throwing the ball hard and locating it well, and that opens up everything else.”
“It’s beautiful. He goes out there and attacks the strike zone, you know?” Martinez said of Gore, who threw 59 of 90 pitches for strikes.
“He goes out and competes. Hopefully this will allow us to see that consistency.”
If there is one thing that needs to be improved on the road, it would be pitching efficiency.
“I know he struck out a lot of guys,” Martinez said. “I’ve been talking to him seriously. Pitching efficiency is going to be the next key for him…He’s trying to get to six innings at this 90-pitch mark.”
Mackenzie Gore’s line: 5.0 IP, 4 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 1 BB, 11 Ks, 90 P, 59 S, 1/2 GO/FO.
Mackenzie Gore was removed after 90 pitches. He became the first pitcher in Nationals history to have 11 strikeouts in a start of five innings or less.
— Mark Zuckerman (@MarkZuckerman) April 13, 2024
Will Senzel be back soon?:
Nick Senzel was scheduled to play in his third rehab game at Double-A Harrisburg on Friday night, but the game was canceled due to rain.
Senzel broke his left thumb while hitting a ground ball before the start of the 2024 season, and manager Davey Martinez said from the beginning that pain tolerance would be an issue in determining when the veteran would return.
From the captain’s remarks before Friday’s game, Martinez made it sound as if Senzel’s imminent return could (and was expected) to happen sooner rather than later.
“He’s doing well,” Martinez said. “He feels good. It’s all a matter of pain tolerance and he’s feeling good right now, he’s not feeling anything, he’s hitting the ball really well, he’s playing really well, so , I said I was going to get him here as soon as possible.”
Trey Lipscomb has replaced Senzel at the hot corner, but the Nationals manager said Senzel will continue to play at number three this winter if he returns to the majors.
“want [Senzel] I’m going to play third base,” Martinez said.
“The good news is a lot of them can do multiple things, so he’s going to play third base for us and we’ll see.
“He’s not here yet, but if we can get him here we’ll have some options, which would be great.”
Also:
this:
Davey Martinez chases Jacob Young and CJ Abrams on the bases:
What did you think about the CJ Abrams triple/Jacob Young/CJ base hit?: “Fast. But I think CJ caught him. I think it was 28.6 seconds, the other one [28.5]. So we went all out to Jacob Young and said, “We’ve got to be a little faster.”