Patiently awaiting the Triston McKenzie / MacKenzie Gore matchup to watch it on my couch with my cardboard cutout of Mackenzie Phillips while Mack the Knife plays, wearing my Mack truck overalls. How was I built? Like a Mack Truck, baby — chugga-chugga-choo-choo. On the reals, it took me forty-five minutes to write the previous sentences because some people’s names have a capped K; some don’t; some have Mac; some have Mc, and this is worse than Zach/Zack/Zak/Zac. Stop the train and let me off. I need a mnemonic, Johnny! One of the more disappointing elements of 2020 — like, roughly, the 12,576th most disappointing thing — was that MacKenzie Gore didn’t get a call-up. He’s ready, Dads, let’s go! Not to mention, I think the Padres could’ve used him. Weird move to go get Mike Clevinger, when they likely would’ve been better with Gore. That’s a big market move done by a small market team — a small market team that’s worth like $1.8 billion, but anyway.
Before we get into 2021, I like to quickly take a scoopity-poop around Razzball to see what’s been said about MacKenzie Gore previously, Prospect Hobbs wrote about 1,200 words in his MacKenzie Gore fantasy, so I’d go check that out (seriously, you should read it if you’re interested in Gore’s entire backstory, I’m not going to repeat it here), but here’s the gist, “The curveball sits 76-79 MPH, which creates a maximum velocity band of 21 MPH for Gore at present. The slider sits in the mid-80s, usually 83-86 MPH and features late break. Both will be formidable weapons at the Major League level. There’s a lot to love here. It’s possible the Padres will want to see some improvement from Gore in controlling the running game before giving him the call, as that’s one glaring hole in his game as it stands today. Regardless, Gore is a generational pitching prospect, and as long as he can avoid career-altering arm injury, he appears to have the ceiling of a future fantasy No. 1 starter and Grey is a #2.” Hey, cmon! So, what can we expect from MacKenzie Gore for 2021 fantasy baseball?
Honestly, MacKenzie Gore > Sixto Sanchez, if both are up. That’s saying something. In fact, MacKenzie Gore greater than most fantasy number twos if he’s in the majors. That “if” is gonna be the pickle in this Vlasic battle of “Is he breaking camp with the team or no?” Everything, and I am not overstating facts here, is beautiful about MacKenzie Gore’s pitching if he’s up. I’m no prospect hound. I rely on Hobbs or Itch, so I don’t know if Gore’s the 1st pitcher to have four pitches rating out as 60-grade, but Gore’s got it. Here’s a taste (coming at cha!):
Forget Sixto and the rest of that nonsense, Gore could be better than Paddack in 2021. I haven’t been pumped for a debut as I am for MacKenzie Gore in some time. If all goes as planned, he’s a number one fantasy ace as soon as 2022. Dudes and five non-dudes, am I overstating? I’m not. In his top 50 prospects for 2021 fantasy baseball, Prospect Itch put Gore comfortably above Casey Mize, and we (Itch included) know that Mize will start the year with the Tigers, and no one knows with Gore. That top 50 is for 2021, and Gore is that high with no surefire ETA. We’re talking about a guy who could have a 11.5 K/9, 1.8 BB/9 and 2-something ERA in his rookie year. Give me that biscuit, I am hungry! Am I stalling because the most important aspect here is when will MacKenzie Gore be called up and I have no idea? Yes. That’s exactly what’s happening. He is still only 21 years old and could be the pitching equivalent to Fernando Tatis Jr. Fun the Jewels meets Mack The Knifezie can I get an amen? For 2021, I’m going to conservatively say he’ll be up in June, and give MacKenzie Gore projections of 7-1/3.05/1.08/104 in 82 IP, and, I repeat, I am being very conservative. I love him.
