Gore breaks down his repertoire, pitch grips
Jim Callis
@JimCallisMLBPEORIA, Ariz. -- One of just eight high school left-handers selected with a top-three pick in the 54-year history of the Draft, MacKenzie Gore didn't have the first full pro season he hoped for. Signed for $6.7 million as the No. 3 overall choice by the Padres in 2017, he came down with blisters in his second start last Spring Training.
Repeated blister problems on his middle finger led to two stints on the disabled list at low Class A Fort Wayne before a fingernail issue on the same finger led San Diego to shut Gore down in late August. He made just 16 starts, recording a 4.45 ERA with a 74/18 K/BB ratio in 60 2/3 innings.
"I never thought that I pitched like I was capable of doing," Gore said. "I never had the great stuff or the great command I wanted to have, but it was good to pitch with not my best stuff. I learned a lot about myself."
MLB Pipeline caught up with Gore at Padres camp in February, when he reported well before Minor League Spring Training officially began. He demonstrated his pitch grips for us -- check out the video at the top of this story -- and self-evaluated his deep repertoire. Scouts believe he has the potential for four distinct pitches that can grade as plus or better, and his high leg kick and extension add deception that makes him even harder to hit.
"Fastball is definitely the best," Gore said when asked to rank his pitches in order. "Then I would go probably the changeup, then the curveball, and the slider right now is probably the worst out of the four. But I have a lot of confidence in every pitch I have right now."
Gore says his four-seam fastball is his most consistent offering. He usually operates at 93-95 mph and tops out at 97 with riding life up in the strike zone. He shows both the ability to command his fastball to both sides of the plate and to maintain his velocity deep into starts.
Gore has advanced feel for a 20-year-old pitcher, and his aptitude for throwing an at-times devastating changeup is one example of it. He maintains his arm speed when he throws his changeup, which has about 10 mph of separation from his fastball and tumbles at the plate. He grips his changeup between his ring and pinky fingers, with his thumb and middle finger forming a circle and his index finger making no contact with the ball at all.
"The changeup is kind of a funky one, off these two [fingers] on the end," Gore said. "Basically, I just started off throwing a circle change and as I got more comfortable, I just kept moving my fingers off of it. It's more like it moves straight down and moves away from a right-hander a little. I like the downward movement."
Scouts preferred Gore's curveball to his changeup when he was an amateur. It's still a weapon with upper-70s power and near 12-to-6 break. His slider is less consistent than his other pitches, but it can be a plus pitch at times, arriving in the mid-80s with cutter-like action.