The Washington Nationals doomsday season continues as their ace MacKenzie Gore is going to the IL with shoulder inflammation. After making his first All-Star team, Gore has struggled mightily in the second half, pitching to a 7.54 ERA in 8 starts since the break.
Now, his season is at risk with this shoulder injury. Obviously,
a shoulder injury is very concerning for a pitcher. The Nationals need to handle the situation with caution as they look to improve in 2026.
For the season, Gore has put up a 4.15 ERA in 147.1 innings. Impressively, he has struck out 173 batters in those innings. However, Gore has still not taken that next step. Each season, Gore starts strong, but after two or three months he begins to fade.
In the past, that regression would hit when June started. This year, he was good in June and early July, which gave fans optimism. However, after the All-Star break, the left hander collapsed and is now on the shelf with injury.
At the Trade Deadline, the Nats had a chance to trade Gore, but Mike DeBartolo elected to hold on to his ace. With how pitchers get injured, it was always a risk to hold on to Gore, and now it is coming back to haunt the Nats.
Gore becomes a free agent after the 2027 season, meaning his value was likely at an all time high at the deadline. Now, with his struggles and injury, that value has depreciated. So unless the Nats are competitive with Gore, this could be a decision Mike DeBartolo comes to regret.
We know MacKenzie Gore has fantastic stuff, but he has flattered to deceive often in his big league career. He still has the talent to be a number two starter, but every year he falls apart in the summer, that ace potential looks increasingly decent.
Hopefully this is just a short term injury for Gore. Any serious shoulder injury would be disastrous for both the player and the team. Whenever you think the Nats season could not get any worse, stuff like this happens. The offseason cannot come fast enough for the Washington Nationals.
