After midsummer slip, young Nats starters back on track

It was undoubtedly the best development of the first half of the Nationals season, a young starting rotation that seemed to break through as one, four potential building blocks all succeeding at the big league level and offering real hope for the near future.

And things turned south for all four of them as the summer progressed. MacKenzie Gore and Jake Irvin no longer looked like All-Stars. Mitchell Parker and DJ Herz looked like rookies with a lot of things that still needed to be ironed out.

So consider the last week-plus a key turning point for that group, which along with veteran Patrick Corbin has turned dominant again.

Over their last nine games, Nationals starters have combined to post a 1.94 ERA and 1.098 WHIP, striking out more than one batter per inning and never once allowing more than two earned runs.

Everyone in the quintet has contributed to the resurgence, but Gore’s part in this play – capped off by Wednesday night’s win over the Yankees – has been the most encouraging.

On June 20, the 25-year-old left-hander sported a 3.26 ERA and nearly 4-to-1 strikeout-to-walk ratio. He appeared to be realizing his full potential, pushing for the first All-Star selection of his career and ascending to the ace status that made the Nats want him from the Padres in the Juan Soto trade in the first place.

And then over his next 10 starts, it all fell apart. Gore’s ERA during that extended stretch was an unwieldy 7.09. He struck out only 38 batters in 45 2/3 innings while walking 29. And more concerning, his velocity dropped by several miles per hour, no longer crisp enough to overpower big league hitters.

An extended bullpen session between starts with pitching coach Jim Hickey, though, helped Gore get his mechanics back on track. That led to better stuff coming out of his hand. And now it’s leading to much better results. He’s allowed a total of three runs over 12 innings his last two starts against the Braves and Yankees, walking only one while striking out 10. And during Wednesday’s win, his velocity was back in a good place again, his fastball averaging 96.6 mph and topping out at 98.5 mph.

Gore, who called his stuff “explosive,” was still reaching 98 mph in his final inning of work.

“Usually if I’ve got it in the first, I’ve got in the sixth. That’s just kind of how I’ve always been,” he said. “But that’s great. To hold velo throughout the game is important. When you need to go get something, go get it in the sixth like we did tonight.”

It’s not just about velocity, though. Gore’s command has been improved, as evidenced by the decrease in walks. And on Wednesday he used his full, four-pitch arsenal with success.

“Hickey worked with him in the bullpen, and we really talked about his direction. Staying on top of the baseball, not getting around it,” manager Davey Martinez said. “And attacking the zone. And throwing down. And also using his changeup. You see the rest of our lefties throwing their changeups and being effective. We really told him: ‘The changeup is a definite kill-pitch. You’ve got to use it.’ And he’s been using it.”

There was further significance to Wednesday’s start for Gore. He earned his eighth win, a new career-high. It was his 27th start of the season, matching his total from all of 2023. And he has now thrown 137 2/3 innings, a new career-high.

There’s still a month to go, of course. And for Gore, as is the case for all the other young pitchers in the Nationals rotation, this final month holds real importance and could determine whether 2024 is remembered as a breakthrough season or simply a nice season that had both ups and downs.

“I think we’ve all had our stretches where we didn’t pitch as well as we did early,” Gore said. “When you get into some uncharted territory, where you’ve never been here before, you don’t want to just stop and pull up. You’ve got to figure out how to get through it. And it’s not always the most attractive thing when you’re getting through it. But we had a good (turn through the) rotation, and maybe we can get some confidence going and get back to what we were doing.”