MacKenzie Gore injury update: Padres rookie likely won’t be back until September

The San Diego Padres have had quite a few players on the injured list this season. The newest player to join is rookie MacKenzie Gore, who reportedly has a low-grade elbow strain.

According to Kevin Acee with the San Diego Union-Tribune, Gore won’t need surgery but he will be shut down for some time.

Padres manager Bob Melvin seems to be taking a cautious approach to Gore’s recovery and anticipates he’ll return in September if healing goes as planned.

“Structurally, everything looked pretty good in there compared to the past. Low-grade strain, and I think we caught a break as far as that goes. Won’t throw baseball for a couple of weeks, and then once we get him back ramped up, we’ll see where he’s at…If everything went smoothly, there’s a chance he could show up at some point in time in September.” -Bob Melvin, via the San Diego Union-Tribune

Gore started the season extremely well and has been considered one of the top pitching prospects for years, but his performance went significantly downhill as this season continued.

Padres rookie MacKenzie Gore lost a lot of steam this season

Gore started the season extremely well. In May, over 26.2 innings, he produced an ERA of 1.69, batting average against of .204 and WHIP of 1.01. By the end of June, he produced significantly worse numbers, including an ERA of 7.27, BAA of .282 and WHIP of 1.96.

His overall downfall in performance isn’t likely connected to his injury. According to MLB.com, Melvin noted that “Gore hadn’t been experiencing any trouble related to his elbow until Monday night.”