Mackenzie Gore is the Nationals ace and he should be fully minted as such with an opening day start
He was already the strong favorite, but Mackenzie Gore should be named the Opening Day starter tomorrow. Gore was dominant in his second start of the spring, going 5.1 scoreless innings while striking out 6. The 26 year old southpaw is looking to build off of what was a mostly successful 2024 campaign.
While Davey Martinez hasn’t officially named his opening day starter, all signs are pointing towards Mackenzie Gore. The dates line up and the left hander is building up, throwing 72 pitches today. After today’s performance it would be a cool move for Davey Martinez to name him the opening day starter as soon as possible.
Ever since he was in high school, opening day starts seemed likely for Mackenzie Gore. In his senior year, Gore went 11-0 with a 0.19 ERA with 158 strikeouts to 5 walks. I could only imagine being a kid in North Carolina walking into the box against him. While he still has remnants of it today, Gore had an insane leg kick in his high school days as seen in this photo.
This success made him the number three pick in the 2017 draft and a top prospect. That dynamite left arm was why he was a big part of the Juan Soto trade. It has been a long road, but the kid with the massive leg kick is now going to be an opening day starter.
2024 was a massive year for Mackenzie Gore, especially the end of it. After a strong start turned into summer struggles for a third straight year, Gore figured out how to bounce back. Getting over that hurdle was a massive win in Gore’s development. Before when things began to go south, he was unable to right the ship, but in 2024 he found a way. It took him a couple months to find it, but he found it. In fact, September was Gore’s best month of the season.
The Nationals hope this is the year where Gore doesn’t have an extended lull where he is fighting himself. If he can find that consistency or even shorten those cold stretches, he can be a true top of the rotation arm. Not many left handed pitchers have his kind of stuff.
On Opening Day, there will be three pieces of the Juan Soto trade on the field, between CJ Abrams, James Wood and Gore. A rejuvenated Robert Hassell and Jarlin Susana are waiting in the wings as well. While losing Soto hurt, the trade kickstarted the rebuild.
2025 could be the Mackenzie Gore finally becomes the ace he has been meant to be for nearly a decade now. He is already the Nats best starter and should be treated as such. Davey Martinez should name him the Opening Day starter tomorrow.