Nationals Ace MacKenzie Gore's Struggles Linked to Shrinking Pitch Mix

When Gore was dominating the first half, he limited the damage the opposing offenses were doing to him. He held them to a batting average of .236, an on-base percentage of .299, and a slugging percentage of .360. The majority of his success came from his ability to develop his slider into one of his primary pitches rather than an afterthought.

A look at his Statcast data highlights the changes. In 2024, he threw the pitch only 38 times and only once to a right-handed batter, despite his whiff percentage being over 52%. Now, he's thrown it 310 times, but still only seven times to right-handed batters, and his whiff percentage sits at 42%, below last season's numbers, but it averages out based on a higher volume.

Part of his issues this season seem to be the fact that his pitch arsenal went from five pitches to three, depending on which side of the plate the batter is hitting from. His slider, which has proven to work this season, is rarely thrown to 3% right-handed hitters, but 44% to left-handed ones. His curveball sees the same splits, but less exaggerated, 28% against right-handed batters, and 12% against left-handed batters.

Gore is essentially limiting the mind games with opponent batters. They now have three choices to pick from in their approach, and with more film available, as he is approaching his career high in innings pitched, he has become predictable for opposing batters.

Between batters more prepared against him and his walks up and strikeouts down (3.94 k/bb in the first half compared to 1.75 in the second half), opposing hitters are less intimidated in the batter's box. The stats show it: Their slugging percentage is nearly 200 points higher, and Gore's ERA has more than doubled from his first-half numbers.

Between Gore's age and his flashes of his arsenal working, there is still time to turn it around, but simplifying his pitch arsenal doesn't seem to be working.