SURPRISE, Ariz. -- Back in 2020, during the COVID-shortened 60-game season, Skip Schumaker -- then an associate manager with the Padres -- encountered a 21-year-old MacKenzie Gore.
At the time, Gore was ranked by MLB Pipeline as the top pitching prospect in the sport. Like every other Minor Leaguer, he did not see any official game action that summer. But that didn’t stop him from making an impression on Schumaker.
“I was impressed by the athlete,” Schumaker recalled. “He's a freak athlete that is a really good runner. He can jump through the roof. He's that type of player, but he's also really stoic and super quiet. He's not going to be the rah-rah guy, jumping on the table, but he's ultra competitive. I don't want you to get fooled by the stoicness and the quiet demeanor in the clubhouse. This kid's the ultimate competitor.”
Now, Gore, who struck out one over three scoreless innings in the Rangers' 3-1 loss to the White Sox Friday at Camelback Ranch, is a long way away from the Alternate Training Site that summer.
He’s been traded twice -- once as a rookie in a package for Juan Soto on Aug. 2, 2022, and again to the Rangers this past winter as a certified big leaguer. And at 27 years old, he still has a lot to learn in the middle of a rotation headed by the likes of Jacob deGrom and Nathan Eovaldi.
“They kind of push you without even saying anything,” Gore said. “You just try to keep up, really. I think being around those guys is gonna be great. They've been getting people out for a long time. So I’m just watching that, trying to learn from that. It'll be great.”
Gore has had high expectations placed upon him since he was drafted, and for good reason. But Schumaker emphasized that he’ll be able to blaze his own path and take the next step this season.
“'Pro' is the best way to describe him,” Schumaker said. “He's a quiet professional. He goes about his work. He's diligent. He's watching some really good pitchers in that clubhouse go about their business, as well. He's asking the right questions.
“I've said early on being around deGrom and Evo, there can only be benefits to that. I think our pitching group has identified a few things, as well, to help him maybe move forward and stay healthy, number one, and then get the innings that we hope he can get, as well.”
Gore posted a 4.17 ERA over 159 2/3 innings in 2025, earning his first All-Star bid with a first half in which he had a 3.02 ERA in 110 1/3 innings. He also had career highs in strikeouts (185), quality starts (14) and wins above replacement (3.0, per Baseball Reference) across his 30 starts.
From the moment they traded for him, the Rangers have felt like they saw adjustments they could make in order to improve his numbers, from pitch sequencing to health.
The Gore trade was meant to stabilize Texas' rotation in 2026, first and foremost. But more than anything -- again -- the Rangers believe being around one of the best rotations in baseball will take his game to the next level, this season and beyond.
“MacKenzie is a number one [pitcher] in the making,” Schumaker said. “Probably not right now on this team, because of Evo and deGrom, but he’s a guy that was an All-Star, he's a grinder in the weight room. He works his tail off everywhere else, as far as trying to build relationships and trying to be great. You want that type of player, and not a guy that's just here collecting a paycheck. He's doing whatever he can to be a Jacob deGrom or Evo.”