“He always likes things to go well,” Davey Martinez told reporters, referring to Mackenzie-Gore’s demeanor on the mound and his role as a key part of Washington’s 2023 rotation and the future of the Nationals. He talked about how he approached his work.
“And I tell him to just go to the next pitch in this game, just try to go to the next pitch when you’re a pitcher.”
But overall this season, Martinez said he was happy with Gore’s results. Gore went winless in his last seven starts Saturday, during which time the 24-year-old southpaw posted a 4.14 ERA and a 4.29 ERA. .295/.346/.503 lines for FIP, 12 Walk, 45 K, and 37 IP.
“He’s going to be a really, really great player,” the sixth-year manager said of Gore’s career ahead of him. “We teach him different things about how to handle certain situations and high leverage situations. We are trying to teach him to stay in the moment because he gets down on himself.Josiah had the same problem [Gray] Last year they were very competitive, doing everything right and wanting to be perfect, but perfection can be difficult at times in this match.
“But he’s got talent. He’s thrown four unbelievable pitches. His stuff is electric. So I love him here.”
Gore cut off the last 10 hitters he faced Saturday afternoon… allowing two 2-run homers after struggling with a long 39-pitch second. One of them was hit low by Marcel Ozuna with a 2-1 fastball, and one was wrecked. 426 feet to left middle (After leadoff walk), and Ronald Acuna Jr. hit a two-out, two-run curve in the zone away to right field, 3-2, to give the Braves a 5-1 lead. Atlanta won 6-4.
Gore pitched five innings and allowed one run in the first inning, but allowed four hits, one walk, five earned runs and three strikeouts in 82 pitches at Tourist Park.
“It’s just another bad inning, right?” Martinez said of Gore’s 13th start of the season.
“But what I loved was the fact that Mackenzie came back out there and had 10 straight 30-pitch reversals.* So that’s kind of what we’re looking for.” can be kept there, that’s good. And it was really just a conversation about being aggressive, not afraid to throw strikes, and getting ahead of hitters. And he was really, really good at doing it. So I was proud of him for doing it. ”
[ed. note – “Gore needed 39 pitches to retire the 10-straight Braves’ hitters, including the final out of the second inning.”]
“He fell behind against some pretty good hitters, didn’t he?” Martinez said. “Then as he moved forward he suddenly became really good.”
How was Gore able to turn things around and keep his opponents down?
“The execution just worked,” Mr. Gore said. Quoted by MASN’s Bobby Blanco.
“The home run wasn’t a great pitch and it was where they wanted to hit.
“Yes, we finished well and moved on to the next game.
“It was just a bad inning,” added Gore.
“I had some bad pitches. I got some good counts, and like I said, I threw some bad pitches. And like I said after the last game, we have to do better in terms of keeping the ball in the field. should not.
“We didn’t do that today, so it’s not very good. .”
According to the manager, when Gore started hitting the zone and finding success, he set an example of what he could do when going right, but early struggles resulted in a short appearance.
“When he hits the strike zone, his stuff gets electrified, really,” Martinez said. “We have to keep him in the strike zone. Like I said, I was so proud of him for coming back and showing us three more innings like that because he wanted to stay in the game but it was 40 pitches in the innings. , I thought that was enough. I wanted to leave a good taste in his mouth.”
