To learn about himself as a pitcher, MacKenzie Gore went to college (2024)

But McFerran said those college pitchers eventually came to realize Gore was just like them. He wasn’t MacKenzie Gore, the former top prospect who could now be found on the mound at Nationals Park, a key part of the Washington Nationals’ rotation. He was MacKenzie Gore, a pitcher intent on growing his knowledge of himself and the game. He hung out all day, talking to pitchers about what they were throwing. He would watch bullpen sessions, asking coaches questions about what he was seeing.

“He’s —” McFerran said, pausing. “I don’t know if savant’s the right word, but he just loves pitching. He’s obsessed with it. He really wants to be a master of his craft. And everything we were doing at Wake was the perfect place to be because he could soak up so much information.”

For Gore to become the pitcher that he knows he can be, he had to learn about who he was. So he went back to college. This wasn’t traditional course work. And it wasn’t at East Carolina, where Gore committed before he was drafted No. 3 by San Diego in 2017. Instead, Gore spent the offseason working with McFerran, now pitching coordinator for the Oakland Athletics, at the pitching lab at Wake Forest, one of the elite offseason training facilities for MLB pitchers. What was he studying? Himself.

“It was like, ‘Where does my stuff play?’ ” Gore said. “ ‘Why was I successful when I was successful last year?’ That’s kind of what we talked about, and we dove into it.”

By many people’s standards, Gore had a solid first full MLB season. He finished with a 7-10 record and a 4.42 ERA. But Gore’s internal expectations are higher than most people’s.

Gore’s “elite drive to improve,” as McFerran described it, paved the way for his impressive 2024 campaign. He has a 3.60 ERA though 16 starts, though his 3.13 FIP (fielding independent pitching) indicates he has had some bad luck behind him defensively. His velocity is up this year, thanks to tweaked mechanics. He has dropped his home runs per nine innings from 1.78 to 0.74 while striking out more hitters per nine innings.

Gore’s education with McFerran began by diving into the left-hander’s numbers — and there was a lot to like. Gore had four distinct pitches with pitch shapes that attacked all parts of the zone. He was throwing enough strikes and had elite extension, in the 94th percentile among major leaguers in 2023.

But a closer look at Gore’s pitch usage explained why he gave up so many hits last season. More than 60 percent of the hits Gore allowed came on fastballs. Seventeen of the 27 home runs Gore gave up last season were on fastballs, and 16 of those were to righties. Fourteen of those homers against righties came in 0-0, 1-0, 2-1 and 3-2 counts. Gore also threw his curveballs primarily to righties and didn’t throw his change-up enough. In short: He was too predictable.

Nationals pitching coach Jim Hickey thought Gore was at times indecisive when it came to pitch selection. Gore was confident in his pitches but wasn’t sure how to use them all together.

“It’s not like he’s got three or four pitches and he leans on two and one of them is a show pitch,” Hickey said. “They’re all weapons that can all retire hitters. … I think he’s got that a little bit more locked down in his mind. Like, if I do get into this particular situation, this is exactly how I’m going to get out of it — or at least try to get out of it.”

From there, Gore worked with McFerran to make adjustments. Gore’s fastball always has been elite because of a low release height and quality backspin. But McFerran emphasized Gore should throw his fastball at the top of the strike zone — and also throw it less often.

Instead, McFerran wanted Gore to open up his full toolbox. He wanted Gore to throw his change-up more because it had a spin rate and movement that set it apart. That pitch arrived in a part of the strike zone that hitters weren’t accounting for. Its usage is up from 2.9 percent last year to 9.7 percent this year. Gore is also throwing his curveball more to lefties.

“I just think he’s overall way more in control of the at-bats,” said Nationals closer Kyle Finnegan, who said Gore is getting more swings and misses in the zone. “For him, it should be execution over selection. I don’t think the pitch matters as much as the execution. So as long as he’s confident in what he chooses to throw and executes it, he’s going to be all right more times than not because his stuff is so good.”

Gore also made physical adjustments on the mound. He was previously on the far right of the rubber. Now he stands closer to the center, a change that helps in a few ways. His pitches are harder to decipher, and McFerran noted that centering himself allowed Gore’s extension to be as close to the plate as possible.

“He’s potentially one of the elites of the elite,” McFerran said. “He has stuff so good that, if he makes each pitch look similar to each other pitch, he’s going to overpower guys.”

Moving to the center of the mound also helps Gore with the mechanics of his delivery, which he tweaked in the offseason. Gore said he leaned over too much toward first base in 2023. This year, he’s more upright. McFerran also said Gore altered his mechanics slightly to create more separation between his upper body and his plant leg, which has allowed him to throw harder.

Gore said no pitcher wants to experience growing pains as he did a season ago. But he also believes his struggles gave him an opportunity to learn. He’s starting to reap the rewards of that — and there’s still more to learn.

“We want it to happen right away, but that’s just part of it,” Gore said. “I expect a lot out of myself and didn’t feel like I was playing up to what I was capable of. And I still don’t. But we’re definitely better than we were.”