DC’s Mackenzie Gore:
A 2017 first-round pick by the San Diego Padres, Mackenzie Gore got off to an impressive start in the majors early last season, posting a 1.50 ERA, 2.20 FIP, 17 walks, 57 strikeouts and a .200/. 279/ was recorded. In his first nine games in the major leagues, he hit a . 241 line in eight starts, 48 innings.
Over 7 games (and 5 starts) but then those numbers ballooned to 11.05 ERA, 8.29 FIP, 20 BBs, 15 Ks, and 22 IP against the .333/.454/. was placed in IL just days before the Padres traded him to the Nationals on the 22-year trade deadline.
Gore made four starts for Triple-A Rochester in the Nationals system late last season, but the club failed to bring him back to the majors for his debut with his new team.
“I wanted to throw” Gore said on MASN’s Hot Stove show: This past winter.
“It was different when I was traded and I wasn’t pitching when I was traded, so I wanted to get back there and it’s the best way to get to know the players, but we need to be smart. I also knew that I had to be smart.
“I knew what made me where I was, and I understood.”
Gore made his Nationals Park debut on March 28 in the final exhibition game of the spring.
Photo by Diamond Images for Getty Images
“It was fun,” Gore said of his first outing in his new home. Words by Mark Zuckerman of MASNsports.com“Everyone, thank you for waiting. Yeah, it was great.”
gore 2⁄3 Innings, 2 walks, 4 strikeouts on an excursion.
Looking forward to his regular season debut with the Nationals, Gore said, “I have some work to do today and I’m on my way to the Braves.” “it was good.”
“Last year we wanted him on the mound, but we wanted to watch out for him,” manager Davey Martinez told reporters before the third-round game against Atlanta on Sunday afternoon.
“But he worked hard this winter, this spring and started throwing the ball really well towards the end.” [of Spring Training]”
Martinez, in addition to observing his mechanics and not speeding up with everything happening to him while out, went to make sure Gore maintained his composure on the mound. Said he was watching
“He often blames himself,” explained the sixth-year director. “And I had to get him under control and go from pitch to pitch and let things happen.
“[Catcher] key bart [Ruiz] I did a great job with him in the last two games of spring training, letting him settle down a bit between innings.
“But we have to watch it, [Pitching Coach Jim Hickey] told him a lot — this is not the end, just one pitch and not the end.
“I used to see him throw a really good pitch and then a guy fouled it and he got it all. And I was like, ‘Hey, they bat for a reason.’ Got it, right?
“So instead of just one pitch and it’s all over, let’s move on to the next pitch.”
Finally, seeing Gore at the start of the Nationals’ regular season made Martinez a little more excited before the game.
“He was really good in San Diego, really good,” Martinez said.
“So when we got him in the trade, he was big, so I know what he’s capable of. is just happy.
Gore Debut:
Gore retired the first six batters he faced on 30 pitches, leading 4–0 after the first batter. He put up a leadoff walk in the top of the third, but wiped it out with a 5-4-3 DP, and a ground ball on the second ended the 12-pitch frame, and after three scoreless runs, 10 outs. Call strikes totaled 42 (all with his fastball) and 5 swing strikes (his fastball 3).
Gore had two consecutive leadoff walks in the top of the fourth, putting Braves leadoff man Ronald Acuna Jr. on first base, trailing Matt Olson, 2–0, and ejecting catcher Keibert Lewis. Went to the mound for a short chat, but he bounced with three straight strikes, two calls, one swing, a K on a fastball and a first out.
A 2-2 slider to Austin Riley scored another swinging K for Knott’s lefty, but Ozzy Albies made it 0-1 for the game’s first hit off the Nationals’ starter. lined up on the left.
Acuña, Jr. moved to second on a hit by Albies, and in his next at-bat, he scored on Travis d’Arnaud’s RBI single to center after three and a half years with the 4-1 Nationals.
After striking out three in the fourth inning, Gore tallied 66 pitches and a 5K, then walked the Braves third with one out in the fifth half of the inning to get catcher Sean Murphy on base, but Orlando was on base. A 1-1 slider to Arcia sent a grounder back to the mound and Gore started an end-of-innings 1-4-3 DP to end the 13-pitch frame, leaving him with a total of 79 over five innings.
A one-out walk to Matt Olson in the sixth, Gore’s free pass in the fourth, for his 89th overall pitch, drew pitching coach Jim Hickey into the chat. , 1-2 fastballs, pushing him to a total of 93 balls and ending the outing.
Hunter Harvey took over and scored an inning-ending double play to keep the game 4–1. This was his third DP of the game for the Nuts defense.
Overall, Gore had 13 swing strikes, eight on fastballs, 17 on call strikes, and 14 on four seamers.
Mackenzie Gore quotes: 5.1 IP, 3 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 4 BB, 6 Ks, 93 P, 56 S, 5/2 GO/FO.
Bullpen Action + Gore Post Game Comments:
Hunter Harvey passed the Nationals in the sixth, Erasmo Ramirez avoided a two-out double in a scoreless seventh, and Carl Edwards Jr. was helped by some great plays by Jaymer Candelario at third base. Kyle Finnegan led a scoreless top of the eighth inning with outwalks and passed balls before taking the 4–1 final, his first victory of the new season.
The skipper for the nuts has spoken out about Gore’s first regular season outing at the club.
“Like I said before, what’s important to me is getting him in the strike zone, and when he does, he’s got electric stuff. I was behind in the innings but I was able to get foul balls and swings and mistakes so I was able to get the count back but he was good…so good.All his pitches were really good. We talk about leadoff walks all the time and that’s what we keep trying to say, not just with him, but with everyone. I went out and attacked, attacked, attacked and it was awesome.”
“It’s been a long time coming,” Gore said of returning to the mound in the majors. So it was great.”
Line movement:
Braves starter Jared Shuster, a 24-year-old first-round pick by Atlanta in 2020 (25th overall), threw 21 pitches before recording his first out in the majors. After having a back single, a bases-loading walk, a run-scoring hit, and a back-to-back RBI walk, he got a pop to short out one, the score was his 3-0, four runs were sack-flies, and 4-0. , he opened a long 26 pitches before he escaped the frame.
When the Braves got on the board at 4-1, Schuster held it there and hung out in the fifth inning, only to have a two-out walk to Keibert Lewis in the home half of the inning, five from the starter. , ended his outing after throwing 79 pitches in four years 2⁄3 IP (6H, 4R, 4ER, 5BB, 1K, 4/4GO/FO).
Robles 2.0?:
In case you were too busy to miss it, Victor Robles went 15 to 47 (.319/.360/.511). With four doubles, triples and a home run in 18 Grapefruit League games this spring, the now 25-year-old outfielder went 1-for-2 with two walks and one run in his 2023 debut.
Robles won 1-2 on Saturday afternoon in the second game of the new season on balls and singles, and his manager spent the postgame preparing his center fielder for the 2023 campaign. We talked about work and the changes he made. plate.
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Photo by Patrick Smith/Getty Images
“Victor is doing really well, really doing well,” said Davey Martinez after the club lost 7-1 to the capital Atlanta on Saturday afternoon. “He had a good spring training. He’s got the ball in the strike zone, he’s hitting the ball hard and we have to keep him moving.
“It’s two games to go, but so far I like what he’s doing and I’m proud of him because he’s committed to making a difference and so far he looks good. ”
Martinez said one of the big keys for Robles, who batted .187 on the slider last season and averaged .163 on the curve ball, is to identify and fire the slider.
“We’re trying to get him to fire the slider,” Martinez explained. ball in play. ”
Robles was 3-0 with several Ks in Sunday’s game.
From Dickerson to Illinois:
Washington put outfielder Corey Dickerson on the injured list for 10 days with a left calf strain after the veteran outfielder left Saturday’s game in eighth place before the finale against Atlanta in DC.
“Cory has a problem with his left calf,” manager Davey Martinez told reporters after Saturday afternoon’s loss.
“We still don’t know what it is. He’ll go get a scan tomorrow to find out what’s going on.”
Martinez explained, “I think he tightened up after six or seven innings.”
When he spoke again after Dickerson went to IL and Stone Garrett got a call from Triple A Rochester, Dickerson hadn’t gone to the MRI yet.
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Photo by Jess Rapfogel/Getty Images
“Cory, he’s having an MRI today and he woke up in pain again,” Martinez said.
“He’s hurting his left calf at the moment, [we’d] Rather, it will be a shorter stint and a bigger problem than trying to push. ”
Martinez said Dickerson had a problem jogging out of left field at the end of the inning and tested at bat but didn’t feel good.
“He hit it, but he said he didn’t feel well. He had this problem last year, but it’s the same area, so…”
Garrett, 27, signed with the Nationals as a free agent this winter after making his MLB debut with the Arizona Diamondbacks last season. The outfielder he needs.
“He’s done well this spring. It’s kind of nice because it also gives us another right-handed bat. He came in early this morning, so I just said he’s ready to come off the bench today. I want him to get used to the field, he’ll be out there and take some fly balls, but we’ve got some lefties that we’ll be playing against over the next few days, so maybe we’ll put him in the game. I will have you participate.”
