On Monday, MacKenzie Gore watched from home in North Carolina as Rob Manfred announced the third overall selection of Major League Baseball’s first-year player draft. For people who had spent months projecting the first round, the Padres’ choice was not unexpected. For the unassuming Gore, it caused a different reaction.

“I had no idea it was going to happen,” the Whiteville (N.C.) High left-hander, who became San Diego’s highest draft pick since 2009, said on a conference call with reporters. “They were at my games, but I was very surprised when it happened.

“It’s overwhelming right this minute. I’m just enjoying it.”

For Brett Harwood, Monday brought a sense of pride in the best player he’s ever coached. Harwood, who has guided Whiteville’s baseball program for 13 seasons, knew Gore had a chance to be special when, as a high school freshman, he threw a no-hitter in the fourth round of the North Carolina state playoffs.


Three years later, a recent moment reaffirmed the type of pitcher Gore had become and the type of person Harwood says he has been all along.

On June 3, as Whiteville celebrated its third state championship in four years, Gore received his third state finals MVP trophy. Moments later, he presented it to Jake Harwood, Brett’s son and a freshman who had pitched the final four innings before hitting a walk-off single.

“He said, ‘Coach, I’ve won so much, I want to give this one to my teammates,’” Brett Harwood told the Union-Tribune. “You hear the word ‘selfless’ used in baseball a lot, and he truly is. He’s been 100 percent a team guy for us, team first. He’s that way off the field as well.”

On the field, the 6-foot-2 Gore established himself as the top southpaw in the draft class and, to some scouts, a better pitching prospect than prep right-hander/shortstop Hunter Greene, whom the Cincinnati Reds drafted second overall.


As a senior, Gore went 11-0 with an 0.19 earned-run average and 158 strikeouts against five walks over 74 1/3 innings. In late May, he was named the Gatorade National Baseball Player of the Year, an award that had gone to such pitchers as Clayton Kershaw, Zack Greinke and Lance McCullers Jr. During his junior season, Gore posted a 0.08 ERA with 174 strikeouts in 83 1/3 innings.

“The group of scouts we have, especially some of the veteran guys, we felt like he was as talented as any left-handed high school pitching prospect that we’ve seen over the course of the last 10 years,” Padres General Manager A.J. Preller said. “I think he stacks up pretty favorably to really anybody that we’ve seen in the high school ranks. It’s a combination of athleticism, the ability to repeat, competitiveness, stuff and command. He’s a guy that has ‘now’ command.”

Known for an unusually high leg kick, Gore sat 92-95 mph with his fastball this past season, occasionally running it up to 96. He also has a curveball, slider and change-up, all of which project to be above-average.

“I start with the fastball, really try to spot it up,” said Gore, who was recommended by Padres area scout Nick Brannon. “I work both sides of the plate, and up and down. I’ve got the change-up to just kind of keep people off balance. The curveball has kind of been my out pitch this spring. At times, the slider was, too. I really just pitch with everything and keep people off balance.”


Padres Scouting Director Mark Conner, who is conducting his third draft, offered this assessment: “His fastball command stands out. It’s got a chance to be plus-plus in the future. He spins both the curveball and the slider. Both pitches have a chance to be solid-average to plus. And kind of throughout the year, they would go back and forth on which one stood out a little bit more. Then his change-up ... there were times he didn’t really need to use it against the high school hitters he was facing. He’d show you a plus one as well. It was a good, balanced four-pitch mix with command of all.”

Gore began using his leg kick, in which he raises his right foot to shoulder level, in middle school.

“I really don’t know where it came from,” he said. “I was always kind of taught to be balanced, show my hip pocket to the catcher. But I was never taught to have a big leg kick. It just kind of happened.”

Harwood said he never tried to alter Gore’s leg kick, noting his elite athleticism.


“I’ve got videos of him dunking basketballs — two hands, one hand, however you want it,” Harwood said. “He fields his position unbelievably. If you watch him play the outfield or first base, it just comes easy to him.”

Gore already has made one visit to Petco Park, where the Padres believe he could eventually pitch at the top of a rotation. Last August, competing alongside the nation’s top players in the Perfect Game All-American Classic, he topped out at 92 mph in an inning of work.

Over an offseason spent in the weight room, Gore added about 15 pounds to his frame. He debuted this spring with increased velocity, holding it late into games.

“From his own account, at the end of the season last year when he came here to Petco, he was tired and realized he had to go do some work if he wanted to be one of the best guys in the game,” Preller said. “He put on a lot of weight, started working hard. He’s a really good self-evaluator. He’s confident and not cocky.


“The biggest thing was that he just kept getting better. The first report coming in … was that he had definitely taken a step early in the season, the velocity just kept coming. … We had a chance to sit down and talk to him for a bit and his family. From that standpoint, it was a pretty easy pick and a target of ours.”

Gore did not undergo a private, pre-draft workout in San Diego, but the Padres attended the vast majority of his starts. Logan White, Dave Post and other key scouting executives cycled through to watch him. Conner said Gore was the subject of “as much work as we put on anybody in the draft.”

While describing his personality as “laid back” and “kind of quiet,” Gore called himself “really competitive and intense” on the field. He named another lefty from North Carolina as a pitcher he admires.

“I really like Madison Bumgarner, the way he competes and wants the ball in the biggest games,” Gore said. “I like the competitiveness.”


The third overall pick carries a suggested bonus value of approximately $6.7 million. Gore, who is advised by Scott Boras, committed to East Carolina University in 2015, but he is expected to sign with the Padres.

“I’m just so happy for him and his family,” Harwood said. “I’m just proud of him, happy for Whiteville and the community. Obviously, I think 99 percent of Whiteville is Padres fans now.”

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