2025 Fantasy Baseball: MacKenzie Gore Profile, Preview, Predictions

MacKenzie Gore came to the majors with an elite left arm and first round pedigree. Unfortunately, he has yet to find his dominace over his first three seasons in the majors. There were hints over the final five weeks of 2024 that Gore's greatness was starting to shine through.

MacKenzie Gore's 2Ks in the 1st. pic.twitter.com/wKGqHWToYM
— Rob Friedman (@PitchingNinja) July 6, 2024

SP – MacKenzie Gore, WAS (ADP – 189.8)

2025 McKenzie Gore Pitching Stats Profile | Shawn Childs

Gore teased over his first 11 starts in 2023 (3.57 ERA and 74 strikeouts over 58.0 innings), but his WHIP (1.414) and home runs allowed (8) showed a riskier side to his game. He was up and down over his final 16 games (5.06 ERA, 1.391 WHIP, 19 home runs, and 77 strikeouts over 78.1 innings). His season ended in early September with blisters.

Despite showing growth in his ERA (3.90) and home runs allowed (0.8 per nine – 1.8 in 2022) in 2024, Gore finished with a poor WHIP (1.419), with some improvement in his walk rate (3.5). He hit 11 batters and threw 14 wild pitches (NL high). His arm was a liability against left-handed batters (.282 BAA) with only league-average value vs. righties (.257 BAA).

Other than a down day on June 3rd (six runs and 11 baserunners over 4.1 innings with two strikeouts), Gore pitched well in 14 games (3.26 ERA and 98 strikeouts over 80.0 innings) despite a poor WHIP (1.375). He didn’t belong in the majors over his next 10 games (7.09 ERA, 1.949 WHIP, and five home runs over 45.2 innings). Hidden in his 2024 season was “fantasy hope” over his final 40.2 innings (1.55 ERA, 0.910 WHIP, and 45 strikeouts), helped by a much lower walk rate (2.4).

His average fastball (96.1) was a career-best, but batters hit .279 against his four-seamer. Gore threw a losing changeup (.280 BAA) while having one pitch of value against right-handed (slider – .174 BAA) and left-handed (curveball – .217 BAA) batters. For comparison, here’s the success of his pitches over his final seven starts:

2024 MacKenzie Gore's PItch Mix Last Five Weeks | Brooks Baseball

Fantasy Outlook: Gore’s sample size of success was short last year, but he did come to pro ball with pedigree (drafted third overall in 2017). Over his first three seasons in the majors, his stats (21-26 with a 4.20 ERA, 1.422 WHIP, and 404 strikeouts over 372.2 innings) suggest waiting for him to prove it for an entire season before running down his arm. Is Gore a tease, or is he ready to help fantasy teams? I’m more interested than in 2024, but I need positive reports about his direction this spring. Within range of 200 strikeouts with length in his start, his success begins with better location in and out of the strike zone.

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