On Thursday at Nationals Park, MacKenzie Gore stepped onto the mound with the weight of Opening Day expectations. What followed was not just a breakout performance—it was a historic one. In his first career Opening Day start,

"It was the way that he moved, the power, the force, the zip, the freaking feeling of that guy," Mintz said, "and my nuclear overreaction is that that dude is freaking back. Adley Rutschman, MVP season, is upon us."

MacKenzie Gore is the kind of locked-in hurler who lets his pitching do the talking. So when manager Dave Martinez informed the 26-year-old southpaw he had earned his first Opening Day start, Martinez tailored his approach.