EVT Padres Minor League Pitcher of the Year: MacKenzie Gore
Credit: John E. Moore/ Amarillo Sod Poodles
MacKenzie Gore is your EVT minor league pitching prospect of the year for the San Diego Padres.
With so much hot talent lava on the pitching side of the farm system, this was not as easy as most would think. Joey Cantillo, Luis Patino, and several other pitchers have had great years for the San Diego Padres and deserve a ton of accolades.
However, there is only one pitcher who could take home this award- MacKenzie Gore.
The consensus #1 left-handed pitching prospect in all of baseball had a dominate year in the minors for the Padres. That is just what the pitcher wanted to accomplish as he sat down and spoke to EVT before the season. Gore was focused and used the trying 2018 season as a learning experience. He dominated in 2019, and that is just a preview of what is to come from the 20-year-old.
In 2019, between two stops in Lake Elsinore and Amarillo, MacKenzie Gore was 9-2 with a 1.69 ERA a 0.832 WHIP. The lanky lefty also struck out 135 batters in 101 innings pitched. While a member of the Storm, Gore went 7-1 with a 1.02 ERA and a 0.706 WHIP in 79.1 innings pitched. The California League All-Star only allowed nine earned runs in his 15 starts in Lake Elsinore.
While in Amarillo, the former #1 pick sat down with EVT again. He spoke about his former coach among other topics with Austin Hartsfield. Gore had his worst start of the 2019 season on July 19 against the Northwest Arkansas Travellers- Only managing to go four innings that night, allowing seven earned runs on nine hits. He also allowed three home runs in that game. A few starts later, Gore allowed three earned in five innings pitched. Those two starts were his worst of the season as he allowed 10 of the 19 runs allowed in 2019 in that span of three starts.
It looked as though the lefty was going to have a down ending to his season, but his last start of the year was dazzling. After a few weeks of rest, Gore returned and struck out all five men he faced in late August. His velocity was in the mid to upper 90’s in that start and flashed an impressive assortment of offspeed pitches. The ceiling for this young southpaw is very high.
2020 should bring a major league debut for MacKenzie Gore. The only question is- when?
He is your EVT minor league pitcher of the year.
James was born and raised in America’s Finest City. He is a passionate baseball fan with even more passion towards his hometown Padres. Editor-In-Chief of EastVillageTimes.com. Always striving to bring you the highest quality in San Diego Sports News. Original content, with original ideas, that’s our motto. Enjoy.