Gore, Patino named the Padres prospects to watch among 60-player pool

On Sunday evening, the MLB staff at ESPN put together a list of top prospects to watch among each clubs 60-player pool. Those players for the San Diego were unsurprisingly Mackenzie Gore and Luis Patino, the team’s up-and-coming pair of talented pitchers.

Gore (21) and Patino (20) are both among the top-15 players on analyst Kiley McDaniel rankings of the MLB’s top-overall prospects, with the former coming in at No. 8 while the latter landed at No. 11.

Both pitchers spent the 2019 minor league season split between the AA Amarillo Sod Poodles (rad name, for what it’s worth) and the A+ Lake Elsinore Storm.

Gore pitched 101 total innings that season and finished with a 1.69 ERA. He allowed 56 hits, 19 runs, seven home runs, and posted 135 strikeouts with a WHIP of .832.

Patino threw 94.2 innings and posted an ERA of 2.57. He allowed 69 hits, 34 runs, four home runs, and struck out 123 batters and finished with a 1.130 WHIP.

Gore and Patino were both huge reasons why some ESPN analysts chose the Padres among a handful other teams who could end up surprising during this year’s abbreviated season. Their wealth of young talent, combined with the right amount of veteran experience is a potential recipe for success where the regular season is much more of a sprint compared to the normal 162-game season.