It was a night to remember for the 23-year-old and his family that was in attendance. The final outcome didn’t end in the win column for the MacKenzie Gore as the San Diego Padres fell to the Atlanta Braves 5-2. But that is the least of the takeaways in such a promising night for Gore and the Padres organization.

Two runs allowed in five innings of work. Gore allowed five base runners, three via a hit and two via a walk. Striking out three batters in his night of work.

Fastball, fastball, and more fastball

In his major league debut, Gore threw 73% fastballs. When you have a fastball that can reach 98.5mph why not? Yes, Braves hitters eventually caught on track in the second go-around vs Gore. Especially when Ozzie Albies touched them all in the third inning. Albies was a 30-HR hitter last season. So, it shouldn’t come as a shock when he barrels one up.

Photo by Denis Poroy/Getty Images

All in all three hits allowed on a night that included 53 fastballs is a win for Gore. In fact, Gore had more whiffs (5) on his fastballs than hits allowed in total.

Expect more offspeed

I believe it is safe to imagine the Padres will have Gore mix in more offspeed. It is very unlikely Gore will maintain such a high clip of fastballs moving forward.

Amongst the twenty offspeed pitches, none were put into play. Batters weren’t prepared and weren’t seeing it well.

One thing that is for certain is Gore is ready. Once a top-five prospect by MLB, Gore fell down to 86th after a tough 2021 season across all levels of the Padres minor league system.

The young lefty is looking to carry over his eye-opening spring training. The rotation will become very interesting once Mike Clevinger and/or Blake Snell are ready to return to the major league team.