San Diego Padres News: MacKenzie Gore loves eight-pitch innings

MacKenzie Gore made his highly-anticipated debut for the San Diego Padres on Thursday, and he made quick work in his only inning.

Good morning San Diego Padres fans and Happy Friday. The Padres topped the Seattle Mariners on Thursday afternoon to improve their record to 10-2 on the spring. Greg Garcia knocked in all three runs – although the first was helped by a throwing error – including a two-run bomb in the top of the sixth inning.

Dinelson Lamet also dazzled in his second start and has tallied seven strikeouts in five innings while allowing just two hits this spring. However, both Lamet and Garcia took a backseat to MacKenzie Gore, the highly-touted 21-year-old making his big-league debut.

The consensus number one pitching prospect rapidly ascended through the Padres’ minor league system and has the potential to make a substantial number of starts for the big league club this season. And he made quick work in his first outing in the bottom of the seventh inning. He needed just eight pitches to induce two groundouts and a popout.

Listening to the radio broadcast, Jesse Agler and Tony Gwynn Jr. used the word “deliberate” and “purposeful” when discussing Gore’s method to attacking hitters. The big left-hander told the San Diego Union-Tribune that he “loves eight-pitch innings” and implied that’s how pitchers go eight or nine innings.

Gore’s debut came a day after Luis Patino made his big-league debut, although he wasn’t as smooth as he was tagged for three earned runs – but struck out two – in one inning of work.

Other News

• Fernando Tatis Jr. returned to Peoria Sports Complex on Thursday, but he’s not expected to play for a few more days. He’s been hit by the flu bug that seems to be going around the clubhouse.
• The Padres may have themselves a three-man race at the catching position, per AJ Cassavell. It’s been primarily Austin Hedges and Francisco Mejia getting consideration for the starting gig, but Luis Torrens is making some noise. While batting just .182 in six spring training games, he has shown better than Mejia, who has yet to record a hit in seven games.
• Our friends at Gaslamp Ball have noted that the Padres will be nationally televised on FS1 three times this year: May 23 in Cincinnati, June 26 in Arizona, and July 25 in Kansas City. Can we get a home game broadcasted on FS1?
• And for the YoutubeTV subscribers reading, the Sinclair Broadcast Group and the streaming service have reached a carriage deal that will continue to broadcast Padres games after announcing last week that the two sides couldn’t reach an agreement.