Mackenzie Gore vs. Fernando Tatis, Jr.: Thursday Baseball Porn

Does it still sting seeing Fernando Tatis, Jr. like.... at all?  Yes, yes it does.  I'm of the opinion that that stupid trade hurts roughly 1 billion times worse than missing out on Machado/Harper last winter.  To have potentially 7 years of control for a SS of his pedigree fucking stings.  That's not to say that I don't love Tim Anderson, because I do, but goddamn would it be nice to pair him up the middle with Tatis Jr. 

Dude is gonna be a freak.  And to watch him face off against another future star?  That's pure, unadulterated baseball porn.  Now most baseball fans know Tatis, Jr. at this point.  He was shoved down our throats for the better part of the last 24 months as the nest great player, but nobody outside of extreme prospect junkies like myself know who Mackenzie Gore is.

I stumbled upon him in his draft year, and immediately was smitten by his changeup.  Now he was pumping low to mid 90s, had + command of his whole arsenal and had the wiry, projectable frame that makes a scout spooge his pants, but his changeup immediately jumped off the page to me.  Unfortunately I couldn't find video of his HS Under Armour All American game performance, but watch these videos for reference:

He possessed the fading action, slotting and command of his changeup as a fucking 17 year old. Most pitchers don't have the ability to combine all of those traits until they're well into their professional careers.  Some never possess it at all.  The ability to harness a changeup properly makes or breaks a lot of careers.  

And as a changeup enthusiast, I fucking love that about Gore.  Some of the best pitchers in baseball have the ability to work off their changeups in any given count.  Think Chris Sale, Max Scherzer, and as a more recent example, Lucas Giolito.  Doesn't matter if it's an 0-0, 1-0, 3-2, or 0-2 count, they can hit a spot and generate a swing and miss or weak contact with their changeup in their sleep. This throws off a hitter's timing and puts their brain in a pretzel.

And that's what Gore does.  Ignore his unorthodox, Bronson Arroyo-like delivery.  Dude is going to be a STUD in SD.  Like... a perennial all star stud.  And to watch him duke it out in spring training against one of the young stars in our game makes me remember that in spite of all of the cheating scandals and bullshit, this is still the best game in the world.  At least in its purest form it is. Never before has baseball had so much goddamn talent from coast to coast on the cusp or already in The Show.  

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Give me more of this kinda shit, and less Astros finger pointing he said/she said off the field drama.  Fuck all that.