Washington Nationals Boss Reveals Plan for Staff Ace, Free-Agent Project

The Washington Nationals aren’t rushing these two starters when it comes to making their spring training debuts.

Sep 28, 2024; Washington, District of Columbia, USA; Washington Nationals pitcher MacKenzie Gore (1) pitches against the Philadelphia Phillies during the first inning at Nationals Park. | Geoff Burke-Imagn Images

As the Washington Nationals press forward in their first full week of spring training games, two names are missing in the starting pitching rotation — MacKenzie Gore and Michael Soroka.

Neither have started a game and, according to Nationals manager Davey Martinez, everything is as it should be.

“They’ll pitch here soon,” he said to reporters, including MASN Sports. “We’ve still got time. We figured if we get them six starts here, they’ll be in good shape.”

Martinez went on to say that neither has had a setback and that holding them out of the rotation in the early stages is based on feedback he’s getting from both pitchers.

At one point early in the spring, Martinez had said that Gore would start the spring training opener. He retracted that shortly after, saying that Gore wanted to be able to start two innings in his first game.

Martinez said that because Gore has been throwing since January, Washington wants to ensure that their potential opening-day starter doesn’t overthrow before the team breaks camp.

Gore also spoke to reporters and said nothing was “off-script.” He also said he pitched two innings’ worth of batting practice on Monday.

As for Soroka, he is trying to transition back to being a full-time starter after spending last season as a starter and reliver for the Chicago White Sox. For the two years before that, he was out due to an Achilles injury.

MASN reported that the Nats have set their rotation for the next few games. D.J. Herz will start on Wednesday, Jake Irvin will start on Thursday and Shinnosuke Ogasawara will start on Friday. Washington plans to piggy-back Mitchell Parker on Ogasawara’s start.

From there, the rotation is TBA. It’s certainly possible Martinez could slide both into the weekend spots for their first live game work of the spring.

Gore, who turned 26 on Monday, had his best season as a starter last year, as he went 10-12 with a 3.90 ERA. He pitched in 166.1 innings, made 32 starts, struck out 181 and walked 65. He’s seen as the potential ace of the staff going into the campaign.

He is now 21-16 with a 4.20 ERA in his MLB career, with 404 strikeouts and 159 walks. He was one of the players the Nationals acquired from the San Diego Padres in the Juan Soto trade in 2022.

Soroka had the third-worst season with no pitching victories since 1900 last season. He went 0-10 with a 4.74 ERA in 25 games, nine of which were starts. He struck out 84 and walked 44 in 79.2 innings.

Before his injury, he was a budding star with the Atlanta Braves. In 2019 he went 13-4 with a 2.68 ERA and made the National League All-Star Game, along with being named all-MLB second team. He was sixth in NL Cy Young voting and second in NL Rookie of the Year voting.