WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. – There was no surprise meeting in the manager’s office, no secretly taped video spread via the team’s social media account. When Davey Martinez decided MacKenzie Gore would start Opening Day, the Nationals manager simply approached the left-hander in the clubhouse and gave him the news.
“By the way, you’re pitching Opening Day,” Martinez told him. “Good luck.”
“OK, thank you,” Gore replied.
“Alright, buddy. Let’s go. We follow your lead.”
The decision, which was officially announced today, wasn’t a huge surprise. Gore was the Nationals’ best pitcher last season, going 10-12 with a 3.90 ERA and 181 strikeouts (numbers that hadn’t previously been reached by one of the club’s starters since 2019). He was acquired from the Padres in the Juan Soto trade as one of the top pitching prospects in baseball. The idea all along was that he would ascend to the ace role for this franchise.
Gore isn’t necessarily the sentimental type, and he wasn’t about to get all syrupy over this news. Which doesn’t mean the 26-year-old can’t appreciate the significance of it within the scope of his career.
“I’m excited, but we’ve known for a while and been able to go out there and get our work done,” the lefty said. “I’m looking forward to it. It is a really cool thing to do, and when you become a big leaguer, it is something you’d like to be able to do.”
Gore will get the ball March 27 at Nationals Park, facing not only a star-studded Phillies lineup but also ace Zack Wheeler.
The two actually met in Game 161 last September, with Gore outdueling the Cy Young Award runner-up with six scoreless innings. He finished that start, not to mention his season, with back-to-back-to-back strikeouts of Kyle Schwarber, Trea Turner and Bryce Harper.
It was an emphatic conclusion to a dominant end-of-season stretch that saw Gore post a 1.55 ERA over his final seven outings, lowest in the majors.
“He’s matured a lot,” Martinez said. “I think he’s starting to understand who he is, really. His stuff is so good. He’s actually really starting to understand how to use his stuff, which is amazing.”
Gore had his second-to-last tune-up this afternoon against the Cardinals, a start that bore some resemblance to starts of the past from him. He endured through some long innings, including a 31-pitch frame in the top of the third. But he limited the damage to two runs, then he finished strong with only 18 pitches over his last two innings to get to a total of 90 after the fifth.
“Yeah, it got away from us in the third, but still we were able to get through five with 90,” he said. “And we were able to work with some traffic, which is good. I feel good. Obviously, I’d have liked to go six and 90, but I thought we got a lot of work in and threw all four pitches to both-handed hitters.”
Gore will be the Nationals’ third different Opening Day starter over the last three years, following Josiah Gray in 2024 and Patrick Corbin in 2023. If he lives up to his potential, he won’t give the organization reason to have to think about handing the ball to anyone else in 2026 or beyond.
“It’s definitely a growth moment for him, to be the guy that can go represent us Opening Day,” Martinez said. “Like I told him: ‘We’re going to follow you.’ I know he understands it’s a big stepping stone for him.”