He’s waited longer than he had hoped to represent Canada.
And when he finally gets the opportunity to do it at the World Baseball Classic, Adam Macko plans to soak it all in.
Ever since receiving the call from Baseball Canada Men’s National Team director Greg Hamilton, the 25-year-old has been thinking about stepping into the clubhouse and putting on the red, white and black for the first time.
As he throws his bullpens and takes part in the start of Spring Training with the Toronto Blue Jays, Macko has started trying to put himself into the shoes of someone throwing on the baseball’s biggest international stage.
“It is such a surreal feeling,” Macko told Alberta Dugout Stories: The Podcast.
“I can’t be on a bigger and better stage representing the country that kind of made me into the baseball player that I am.”
In the truest sense of the words, it’s a dream come true for a young man who has traveled the world while chasing a career in baseball.
MAPLE LEAF DREAMIN’
Macko’s story has become well-known over the years as baseball watchers have tracked about his origin story.
Born in Slovakia, the southpaw’s family moved to Ireland before finally settling in Stony Plain in 2014.
All the while, he was watching YouTube videos of Justin Verlander and Chris Sale to help shape his pitching game.
Macko then packed his bags again and moved south to Vauxhall Academy to continue building his game under the watchful eyes of Les McTavish and Jim Kotkas.
That’s when it hit him that he wanted to represent Canada at some point, starting with the Junior National Team.
“Unfortunately, it didn’t work out with my citizenship status and those kind of logistics,” Macko said.
“All my friends that were in Vauxhall were part of it and that was something I was always jealous of them for, and obviously very happy for them, but I also wanted to be there.”
Despite not being able to suit up for Canada, the young southpaw was still impressive enough that the Seattle Mariners chose him with their 7th round selection in the 2019 MLB Draft.
UP AND DOWN IN ‘25
After a couple of seasons in the Mariners’ farm system, Macko was traded alongside Erik Swanson to the Blue Jays for slugger Teoscar Hernandez after the 2022 season.
Still too young to be thought of for the following spring’s World Baseball Classic, he kept plugging away in the minors, making it up to Triple-A for the first time near the end of the 2024 campaign.
Ranked as a top-10 prospect in the Jays’ organization, there were some high hopes for him heading into 2025, but injuries early in the season kept him from really getting into a groove.
Macko finished the year with a 3-8 record, 5.06 earned run average, and 91 strikeouts in a little more than 81 innings of work.
“There are some things to be really happy about and some things that definitely need some ironing out as well,” he said. “I kind of feel like I found myself a little bit towards the end of that stretch of my year coming back from the injury.”
It was a tough pill to swallow for Macko, who hadn’t really endured a lot of adversity over his career.
FRONT ROW SEAT FOR PLAYOFFS
While it could have been easy for Macko to get down on himself, the Blue Jays gave him a major vote of confidence during their memorable run to the World Series.
To keep the big league team ready in between playoff series, Macko was among the players named to the “stay hot group” who helped with practices, simulations and intrasquad games.
The 6-foot, 170-pound lefthander says it was another eye-opening opportunity, winning two playoff series then coming agonizingly close to winning a championship.
“I was lucky enough to get a chance to do that, getting to compete against the cream of the crop, and just be there,” Macko said. “I was so proud of all those guys and how far they had come. It was just unbelievable.”
On a personal level, he says it was also a massive learning experience which served as inspiration to want to join the team in 2026.
“I got a little bit of a taste of just being able to throw lives and compete against the big league guys,” Macko continued. “I got more of an itch to do that than I had at any other point, so that was a great motivator to end my year like that and go into the season, hopefully making the team.”
ALL HE WANTS TO DO IS WIN
One thing Macko won’t have to worry about anymore is whether he’s making the team … as in Team Canada.
The architect of the Canuck squad says it’s early in the year so they won’t be stretching him into an extensive starter-type role, but it’s possible he comes in as a “piggyback” off a starter and throws a couple of innings or even potentially a late-inning option.
“We’re really excited about him,” Hamilton said. “It’s really compelling stuff as he has a plus breaking ball and his fastball is really, really good.”
He and the Baseball Canada coaching staff, led again by Ernie Whitt, will be keeping a watchful eye on the young hurler and putting him in positions to be successful.
“We’re looking at him probably out of the bullpen and not just one or two hitters – an inning or two type of deal,” Hamilton said. “Given where he sits with the Jays, that’s kind of where he is right now and we’re going to try to reflect that in how we use him.”
That flexibility will be a welcome addition, not just to Canada, but potentially later this season with the Blue Jays.
Macko started in 10 of his 18 outings in 2025, so he’s growing more comfortable as a reliever as well, which could be needed with the grind of a 162-game season in the bigs.
Getting that call would mean the world to the Parkland Minor Ball product, as 2026 looks to be a big year in his world.
“Nothing would make me happier than representing Canada and getting a championship there and then going to the Jays and getting a championship there,” Macko said. “I don’t think anyone can have a better season than that.”
Canada starts its trek to the World Baseball Classic with tune-up games against the Blue Jays and Philadelphia Phillies on March 3-4, then their round-robin begins against Colombia March 7.
2 thoughts on “Fulfilling a Dream”