Washington Nationals Ace Showing Massive Improvements in Key Areas This Season

The ace of the Washington Nationals has improved quite a bit in two key areas this season.

Apr 24, 2025; Washington, District of Columbia, USA; Washington Nationals starting pitcher MacKenzie Gore (1) pitches against the Baltimore Orioles during the second inning at Nationals Park. | Geoff Burke-Imagn Images

Even though the Washington Nationals are coming off a horrible loss to the New York Mets, this is a team that has shown some signs of improvement this season.

While competing for a playoff spot might not have been a realistic goal for the Nationals this year, the franchise surely wants to see more than the 71 wins they had in each of the past two campaigns.

Last season, some of the key members of the young core the franchise has been building started to come up and make their debuts.

This is still a very young team that is going to need time to grow, but early indications are that some of their players are going to be very good.

In the lineup, James Wood has received a ton of attention for his strong start to the year, and rightfully so. The slugger is emerging as an All-Star caliber player already at just 22 years old, which has been a significant boost to the lineup.

However, he isn’t the only talented youngster who has been stepping up this campaign.

Tim Britton of The Athletic (subscription required) recently wrote about the amazing season that MacKenzie Gore is having for the Nationals, with the young left-hander being in the same category as a Hall of Famer.

“Gore’s strikeout rate is just off the career-best number for Randy Johnson. That jump in Ks — Gore struck out about a quarter of hitters last season — has aligned with a drop in walks, which is about as promising a combination as a pitcher could have.”

Being mentioned in the same sentence with an all-time great like Randy Johnson is high praise for Gore. However, while the strikeout rates might be similar, the game has changed quite a bit since Johnson last pitched, with batters swinging and missing a lot more these days.

Even though the game might be different, the southpaw from Washington is thriving in 2025.

Gore was showing some signs of improvement in 2024, but he has really taken it to the next level this campaign.

So far in 2025, he has totaled 3.34 ERA, 2.01 FIP, and a league-leading 53 strikeouts in 36 innings pitched. The 26-year-old is tops in the Majors with 13.6 strikeouts per nine rate, which is significantly better than what he did last year.

Furthermore, with the walk rate per nine dropping as well, it is no surprise that he is performing as well as he has.

As the Nationals look to take that next step forward, the development of Gore into potentially the ace of the staff is key. The franchise has high hopes for him, and so far in 2025, he is looking fantastic.