Gore not troubled by high pitch count in tune-up start; Law may not be ready for Opening Day

PORT ST. LUCIE, Fla. – As the Mets kept fouling off everything MacKenzie Gore was throwing at them, driving up his pitch count and limiting him to only three innings in his spring training finale, you could only imagine the Nationals left-hander’s frustration mounting.

Then mention it to Gore, inform him of the gargantuan foul ball tally (24 of the 74 total pitches he threw) and watch his eyes actually light up.

“That’s probably a good thing, really,” he said. “Because I think everyone was kind of aware what was going on. I’m not going to get too caught up in location, trying to be perfect. I was going at them with heaters, and we did get a lot of foul balls, which is good. I thought it was good.”

What exactly was going on today during the Nats’ 5-5 exhibition tie at Clover Park? Gore, confident he was already ready for Opening Day and cognizant he’ll be facing the Mets plenty of times this season, opted to keep his pitching plan as basic as could be. He threw 47 fastballs, compared to only 13 curveballs, 12 changeups and two sliders.

If this game counted, he never would’ve done that, deploying much more deception in an attempt to induce way more than eight total whiffs from New York’s batters.

“You don’t want to show guys everything,” he said. “That might not mean anything. It might. But that’s the way I went into it. And then I like the mindset it gave me to go after guys with heaters.”

Gore’s fastball averaged 96 mph, and he threw it for strikes nearly 75 percent of the time. So there was plenty to be encouraged about in that regard … if you ignore the results. Which you can do on March 22, but not five days from now when he faces the Phillies on Opening Day.

“A lot of fouls, obviously,” manager Davey Martinez said with a laugh. “I think he’d probably do things a little different during the season. But we got him through three innings, and we wanted to keep him to around 70 pitches. It just happened to be quick.”

Gore finished his spring with a 2.76 ERA in four Grapefruit League starts. (He also faced teammates twice on a back field.) He emerged from it all healthy, earned the first Opening Day assignment of his career and now can’t wait to show the Phillies – and everyone else – his complete arsenal Thursday afternoon at Nationals Park.

“I’m ready,” he said. “We’ve still got five days, but it’ll be nice preparing for a team. We’ll get the homework going, and I’ll be ready to go.”

* Derek Law’s status for Opening Day appears to be highly questionable right now, the veteran reliever having pitched in only one game so far this spring and telling team officials his arm hasn’t responded as well as hoped once he ramped up the last two weeks.

Law, who was among the league leaders with 90 innings pitched in relief last season, was purposely brought along slowly this spring. The Nationals’ plan: Delay his debut by several weeks, get him three or four game appearances before breaking camp and conserve as many bullets as possible heading into the regular season.

Law made his long-awaited debut Sunday against the Rays and was happy with how he felt after the fact. But he hasn’t pitched in another game since and has reported general arm soreness, leaving his status for Opening Day in jeopardy.

“It’s still early; we don’t have to make those kind of roster decisions yet,” Martinez said. “Him telling you that indicates that he doesn’t feel like he’s ready. We’ll go back tomorrow and the next day, talk to the medical staff and just see where he really is. He thinks he’s going to be fine. He just can’t bounce back right now.”

Does this development make the Nationals reconsider the delayed ramp-up plan they used for Law this spring?

“No, I think we did the right thing,” said Martinez, who added an MRI of Law’s arm revealed “nothing.” “Because as he was throwing, progressing, he just didn’t have that bounce back. And I said: ‘We’ve got plenty of time here.’ One day, he felt good and threw the ball really well. The next day, he said: ‘My arm just doesn’t feel right.’ OK, let’s just take our time.”

If Law has to open the season on the injured list, the Nats would have the ability to carry both Eduardo Salazar and Orlando Ribalta, plus either Brad Lord or Jackson Rutledge as a long reliever.

* The three runs Gore surrendered today were a direct result of James Wood’s inability to catch a fly ball hit to the warning track in left field in the bottom of the first, one that underscored the 22-year-old’s continued learning process at the position.

With two on and one out, Brandon Nimmo lofted a high fly ball to deep left field. Wood got a late break on the ball and was slow to get to the warning track, ultimately unable to make an attempted over-the-shoulder catch. The ball landed for an RBI double. And because Mark Vientos’ subsequent fly out to center became a sacrifice fly instead of the third out, the inning continued despite Gore’s ability to induce three relatively routine fly balls.

Martinez noted the team has been allowing Wood (and the other outfielders) to position themselves most of the spring. That will change beginning Thursday, when more thorough scouting reports are provided for each hitter.

“Today, he was playing a little shallow; typically, he plays a little deeper, and I think he catches that ball,” the manager said. “As soon as we get going, we’ll start putting him in the spots he needs to be in.”