Padres top prospect MacKenzie Gore named MiLB Pitcher of the Year

San Diego Padres pitching prospect MacKenzie Gore was named the Starting Pitcher of the Year by MiLBY.

This is the second straight year that a San Diego Padres player has won the annual award as Chris Paddack won it in 2018.

Paddack and MacKenzie Gore were both the staff pick for the Starting Pitcher of the Year Award by MiLBY.

Gore is the Padres top prospect and fourth best prospect overall by MLB.com.

The former third overall pick in the 2017 MLB Draft put up ridiculous numbers across two levels of the Padres organization in 2019.

The 20-year-old lefty started the season at High-A and dominated the competition with a 1.02 ERA in 79.1 innings (15 starts) with 110 strikeouts and a WHIP of 0.71.

As is to be expected with a 20-year-old, he struggled a little once he moved up to Double-A with a 4.15 ERA in just 5 starts with 25 strikeouts in 21.2 innings with a WHIP of 1.29.

The walk rate for Gore went up from 2.3 per nine at High-A to 3.3 at Double-A, something he’ll need to do a better job of in 2020.

But overall in 2019, he went 9-2 in 20 starts with a 1.69 ERA in 101 innings with 135 strikeouts to just 28 walks for a WHIP of 0.83.

He also held batters to just a .164 average over those 101 innings.

It certainly seems like Gore has put those nagging finger issues that limited him in 2018 behind him.

The Padres were obviously very cautious with Gore in 2019 and limited his workload.

In 2020 I expect we will see them take those restrictions off a bit as he likely starts the season at Double-A.

Anybody thinking Gore could make his Major League debut in 2020 might want to temper expectations … but you never know.

Either way, Gore appears to be on a great track and could be a frontline starter in the Padres rotation as soon as 2021.

This is just another great achievement for the top prospect, but we hope there are much bigger ones down the road.