David Chao, MD
2 min read • July 26, 2022
Posted in
Padres young lefty MacKenzie Gore exited Monday's relief appearance in the bottom of the 5th inning after reportedly experiencing elbow soreness.
Gore entered for Sean Manaea and started out throwing his usual 94 miles per hour, but his velocity dropped to around 90 mph before he exited mid-at-bat while facing Riley Greene.
Elbow soreness can be an ominous pre-cursor to Tommy John surgery, but it is not clear if that's the case with Gore, according to our Pro Baseball Docs.
Either way, the 23-year-old's elbow issues likely take him off the table for any potential trade involving Juan Soto, the Nationals star who has been heavily linked to the Padres ahead of the August 2 trade deadline.
While the Padres used the general term soreness for Gore's elbow issue, he is likely dealing with an elbow injury.
Soreness usually happens over time from overuse. It also likely wouldn't cause Gore to exit mid-at-bat.
His exact elbow injury is not clear at the moment, but the team will likely place him on the 15-day IL while assessing the next steps.
As the Padres top pitching project, any potential offer for Soto would likely have included Gore and young shortstop C.J. Abrams, among others.
That no longer seems feasible with Gore on the shelf dealing with this unknown elbow injury.
Gore is 4-4 with a 4.50 ERA this season in 13 starts and 3 relief appearances. He has allowed 66 hits while walking 37 and striking out 72 across 70.0 innings.
The Padres have lost 6 of their last 10 games and currently sit in the second NL Wild Card spot at 54-44.
Among 17 front-office executives polled in a recent MLB.com article, 8 favored the Padres as the likeliest landing place for Soto.
The Yankees were runners up with 7 votes.
Written by David Chao, MD
MacKenzie Gore said he felt elbow discomfort throughout the fifth inning. "It wasn't that one pitch, which is hopefully a good thing," he said. He'll be examined by doctors after the Padres return to San Diego.
