Nationals analyst Mark Zuckerman believes Washington pitcher MacKenzie Gore is turning into the ace the Nationals envisioned when they traded Juan Soto.
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00:00Really encouraging start for Mackenzie Gore, though.
00:03I mean, he has real strikeout stuff.
00:06Yeah, yesterday wasn't as good against the Marlins,
00:09but big picture, it's been encouraging to see that.
00:12And again, somebody who you knew had it all,
00:15and it was just a matter of putting it all together
00:17and staying consistent with it.
00:19His opening day start against the Phillies was phenomenally good.
00:22And he also pitched well against, I think it was the Dodgers
00:25in the last homestand.
00:26And this is a guy who has all the tools
00:31and, more importantly, the mindset to want to be the ace of the team.
00:35He's always kind of had that drive in him,
00:41the desire to be the best.
00:42He hasn't backed down from anything.
00:44He knows when he's on, he's better than anybody he's facing at the plate.
00:47It's just a matter of consistency from start to start.
00:50And what he's done well, and a little bit yesterday, not as much,
00:54but what he's done well is not let things get out of control.
00:57When he starts getting guys on base in the past,
01:00you could see it falling apart on him.
01:01He's stayed much more composed, I think, so far this year,
01:04and not turning starts into blow-ups.
01:07And what he's able to do is give them innings as a result
01:09and give them a chance to win.
01:12Out of everybody in the rotation, the rotation's been fine so far,
01:15but he's the one that really stands out as having elevated his game
01:18and really looking like a number one starter.
01:20As Doc Walker would say, he got that dog in him.