Is Young Left-Hander Ready To Become an Ace for Washington Nationals?
The Washington Nationals are heading into the offseason looking to improve after a 71-win campaign in 2024.
Even though it might not have been considered a successful season for the Nationals, it was one that allowed a lot of their young players to take a step forward.
While the young lineup for Washington has garnered a lot of attention, and rightfully so, the Nationals also have a lot of talented young pitchers on their staff. In 2024, Washington featured a starting rotation of MacKenzie Gore, Jake Irvin, DJ Herz, and Mitchell Parker.
Of the four young starters, Gore has been highly touted since coming over in the Juan Soto trade as a pitcher who could be the ace of the staff.
The 25-year-old has been a starter for the last two seasons in Washington and has shown some signs of improvement and potential greatness.
Recently, Mark Zuckerman of MASN Sports spoke about what 2025 could look like for the southpaw.
“2025 outlook: Since the day he was acquired in the Soto-Bell blockbuster, Gore has been touted as the potential ace of the Nationals’ next winning team. He flashed glimpses of that form in 2023. He flashed more consistent glimpses of that in 2024. Now it’s time for him to fully ascend to the role and lead the way in 2025 and beyond.”
As Washington heads in to 2025, Gore is going to play a big part in the success or failure of the team. As shown in 2024, the 25-year-old has the potential to be an ace in years to come. Last year, he totaled a 10-12 record, 3.90 ERA, and 181 strikeouts in 166.1 innings pitched.
Consistency is something that he will have to work on to reach the next level, as Gore got off to a good start to the season, then struggled in the summer before picking it back up at the end of the year.
The September performance of the southpaw was very encouraging for his potential heading into next year. In the final month of the campaign, Gore totaled a 1.26 ERA and held opposing batters to a .135 batting average.
If the left-hander can pitch similarly to that in 2025, the Nationals will have a true ace on their staff. Finding an ace or a front-end of the rotation starter is a need for Washington to take the next step as a franchise, and finding that already on the roster would be a big boost.
