San Diego Padres pitcher Blake Snell is headed to the IL, clearing the way for top prospect MacKenzie Gore to make his major league debut on Friday.
Snell, the 2018 AL Cy Young Award winner, was scratched from Sunday’s scheduled start — his first of the season — with left adductor tightness after going through his usual warm-up.
Gore, the third overall pick in the 2019 MLB draft, will make his major league debut against the Atlanta Braves on Friday, manager Bob Melvin said.
Gore, a left-hander who boasts a fastball in the upper-90s to go along with his changeup and slider, struck out 16 hitters over 12 innings during spring training, with just three walks. In his first start for Triple-A El Paso this season, he struck out seven batters in five near-perfect innings.