MacKenzie Gore’s debut shows why ‘the sky is the limit’ for Texas Rangers lefty

PHILADELPHIA — If you use FanGraphs’ wins above replacement calculations as a guide, three of the seven most valuable left-handed pitchers in the National League last season started in a three-game stretch at Citizens Bank Park to begin the new baseball year.

Philadelphia Phillies ace Christopher Sanchez, whose 6.4 WAR led senior circuit southpaws, fit the bill of a Cy Young award runner-up on opening day. Teammate Jesús Luzardo, whose second-best 5.3 WAR earned him a nine-figure extension earlier this month, pitched three days after him.

The third of those three?

The Texas Rangers swung a deal to land him this winter in what manager Skip Schumaker described as “a big pickup for us.” MacKenzie Gore — the only one in that trio who earned an All-Star nod last season — made it tricky to argue otherwise in his debut.

Rangers

Gore pitched 5 1/3 innings of two-run ball, no-hit the Phillies through five of them and struck out seven batters in an 8-3 win anchored by fresh faces. He pitched into the sixth inning on a day in which his team needed length and showcased the sky-high potential that the Rangers saw as enough reason to ship five prospects to the Washington Nationals for him.

Texas Rangers pitcher MacKenzie Gore throws in the first inning of a baseball game against...

“We faced two good lefties over there,” Schumaker said Sunday afternoon. “He’s just as good as some of the names in the league.”

The Rangers “needed him to get into at least the sixth inning,” Schumaker said, with a thin bullpen created by right-hander Jacob deGrom’s stiff neck and an extra-innings win the day before. Gore strolled into the sixth with a no-hit bid until Phillies center fielder Justin Crawford reached on what amounted to a swinging bunt chopped between third base and the mound. He exited four batters later after a walk, single and hit by pitch scored a run and forced right-hander Cole Winn into the game.

Texas Rangers pitcher MacKenzie Gore throws in the first inning of a baseball game against...

Texas Rangers pitcher MacKenzie Gore throws in the first inning of a baseball game against the Philadelphia Phillies, Sunday, March 29, 2026, in Philadelphia. (AP Photo/Laurence Kesterson)

Laurence Kesterson / AP

“I understood where we were at, but it’s just a one pitch at a time thing, you know?” Gore said. “I kind of gave it every pitch I had today.”

That’s not hyperbole. The 27-year-old used five pitches — fastball, curveball, slider, cutter and changeup — to elicit strikeouts. He was efficient early and retired the first six Phillies he faced in order on just 24 total pitches. Gore walked catcher J.T. Realmuto to lead off the third but responded with consecutive strikeouts (one with his cutter and another with his fastball) before a flyout from shortstop Trea Turner ended the frame. In the fourth, he struck out designated hitter Kyle Schwarber with his slider, and in the fifth, he spun a changeup away to strike out second baseman Edmundo Sosa.

Rangers right fielder Brandon Nimmo, who hit a two-run home run in Sunday’s game, faced Gore for three seasons while with the New York Mets. He offered a gleeful “oh man” when asked for his review of the new perspective behind Gore on defense.

“His talent level, and with the stuff that he’s got, the sky is the limit,” right fielder Brandon Nimmo said. “To be able to come out, five innings of no-hit ball with your new team, I don’t think you could draw up a better start.”

Gore fell behind nearly half of the batters he faced with just 12 first-pitch strikes but rallied for strikeouts four different times when behind and field outs in three others.

“That just tells you what kind of stuff he has to get out of innings, get out of jams, against a really good lineup,” Schumaker said. “I’m excited that he’s a Ranger.”

Twitter/X: @McFarland_Shawn

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