SAN DIEGO PADRES TOP 10 PROSPECTS
1. MacKENZIE GORE, LHP
AGE: 21. B-T: L-L. HT.: 6-3. WT.: 195.
DRAFTED: HS—Whiteville, N.C., 2017 (1st round).
SIGNED BY: Nick Brannon.
TRACK RECORD: Gore led Whiteville (N.C.) High to three state championships and went 11-0, 0.19 as a senior with 158 strikeouts and five walks in 74.1 innings to win BA’s High School Player of the Year award. The Padres drafted him third overall and signed him for $6.7 million to forgo an East Carolina commitment. Gore’s first full season was limited to 16 starts by blisters, but his full ability came out with full health in 2019. He posted a 1.02 ERA at high Class A Lake Elsinore, the lowest ERA by a starter with at least 70 innings in California League history, and earned an invitation to the Futures Game before a late-season promotion to Double-A Amarillo. Among pitchers who threw at least 100 innings in 2019, Gore led the minors in ERA (1.69) and WHIP (0.83).
Gore’s supreme athleticism sets him apart from other pitchers. He brings his knee nearly to his chin out of the windup during a sky-high leg kick, then explodes down and out over the mound to generate tremendous reach and extension. Gore’s fastball ranges from 91-96 mph and gets on hitters quickly because of his nearly seven feet of extension. The result is late, confused swings from batters who think they have his fastball timed up, only to have the ball nearly in the catcher’s mitt by the time they swing. Gore’s slider and curveball are each swing-and-miss weapons
