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San Diego Padres Patiently Waiting For MacKenzie Gore

By Tim Ryder

SAN DIEGO, CA - MARCH 30: Fans enjoy the game from atop the Western Metal Supply building on Opening Night before a baseball game between the Los Angeles Dodgers and the San Diego Padres at Petco Park on March 30, 2014 in San Diego, California. (Photo by Denis Poroy/Getty Images)
SAN DIEGO, CA - MARCH 30: Fans enjoy the game from atop the Western Metal Supply building on Opening Night before a baseball game between the Los Angeles Dodgers and the San Diego Padres at Petco Park on March 30, 2014 in San Diego, California. (Photo by Denis Poroy/Getty Images) /
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San Diego Padres pitching prospect MacKenzie Gore will start his ascent through the Friars’ farm-system this spring. A.J. Preller and Co. are patiently waiting for the day he makes it to Petco Park.

MacKenzie Gore will turn nineteen this Saturday. I doubt many who are reading this had as much going for them on their nineteenth birthdays, myself included, as Gore does. Hailing from Whiteville, NC, Gore was the San Diego Padres’ third-overall pick in the 2017 MLB Amateur Draft.

As a junior at Whiteville High, Gore went 12-1 with a 0.08 earned-run average. Because of that, and his 174 strikeouts in just a tick over 88 innings pitched, most of the scouting world was salivating while dreaming of what he might do in his senior year.

Well, MacKenzie Gore did not disappoint. He went 11-0, striking out 158 over 74.1 innings. There was one letdown to his 2017 performance, though. His earned-run average was a bloated 0.19 compared to his not-too-shabby 0.08 the year before.

And, from Dennis Lin’s 6/24/17 article at his former home, The San Diego Union-Tribune, a fun fact. In Gore’s 2017 senior season at Whiteville, he hit more home runs (6) over the course of the season than the number of batters he walked (5).

That is precisely why MacKenzie Gore was the third-overall pick in the MLB Draft after his senior year.

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The San Diego Padres’ future is bright

This spring, MacKenzie Gore will begin his journey through MiLB, with the ultimate goal of reaching the highest level of professional baseball there is.

The 6’3″ left-hander played with the San Diego Padres’ Arizona Fall League team this past year, showing exactly what the hype is all about.

In seven starts in the AFL, while pitching a total of 21.1 innings, Gore gave up just three runs while striking out 34 and walking only seven.

His WHIP was a sparkling 0.984 and his K/9 was a ridiculous 14.3.

Next: Padres Spring Notebook: Playoffs?

One can only hope that the San Diego Padres’ best pitching prospect in, possibly, their franchise’s history will continue to dominate.

Maybe by 2021, we’ll be discussing/arguing over how to cut down the rotation of Gore, Dinelson Lamet, Luis Perdomo, Cal Quantrill and Eric Lauer in order to head into the postseason for the Friars.

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