By IAN WILSON
Adam Macko is a major leaguer.
From first discovering baseball in the first grade at school in Bratislava, the capital of Slovakia; to winning a Little League championship in Ireland; to teaching himself how to pitch by watching YouTube videos of David Price and Justin Verlander; to training in Vauxhall in southern Alberta, Macko has now realized his dream of playing Major League Baseball (MLB).
The left-handed pitcher has taken an unlikely path to the bigs and ended up on the sport’s biggest stage at Yankee Stadium in New York for his MLB debut.
Macko’s introduction to American League action was staggered. Sportsnet reporter Hazel Mae noted that he had a locker in the visitor’s clubhouse at Comerica Park in Detroit on Saturday, May 16th, prompting speculation of a callup for the 25-year-old prospect with the Toronto Blue Jays.
The Jays had a number of pitchers who were banged up and looking like gametime decisions. Macko lingered on the team’s taxi squad while the coaches and medical staff assessed their mound options.
On Sunday, the southpaw was officially called up and added to the roster while Tommy Nance was placed on the injured list.
Reporters flocked to Macko ahead of the Jays game against the Tigers to hear about his journey.
“I learned about MLB when I was in Ireland, and I learned about Verlander, and he won the Triple Crown that year… that’s what I want to do,” he said.
“It’s funny how things all work out together to be the most perfect scenario I could ever imagine.”
Macko shared a story about how he discovered he was joining the big club. Casey Caendale, the manager of the Triple-A Buffalo Bisons, messed with Macko before breaking the news. Caendale questioned the hill topper about eating two burgers, instead of just one, a move that allegedly left the coaches with not enough food to eat. The skipper then let Macko off the hook and sent him on his way to Michigan.
When he arrived in Detroit, Macko made a startling wardrobe discovery.
“Everybody was wearing collared shirts on the bus. I was the only one in a hoodie. I was like, ‘This cannot happen,’” he told MLB.com reporter Keegan Matheson.
As Macko was “panic shopping for collared shirts,” pitching coach Pete Walker called him to confirm his callup to the Jays.
While he was trying on different clothes so he could look the part of a big leaguer, Macko’s supporters were scrambling to get to Detroit so they could see his debut.
When the Blue Jays squared off against the Tigers, starting pitcher Kevin Gausman went six innings before Walker called upon relievers Yariel Rodriguez, Joe Mantiply and Tyler Rogers to help deliver a 4-1 victory for Toronto.
“We didn’t see Adam pitch live that day, but we enjoyed the game at Comerica Park,” said Macko’s father, Vladimir, who attended the game along with Adam’s fiancée Victoria, his sister Tana, and Vladimir’s wife, Milena.
“After the game we were allowed to go on the field to see Adam. That was a very nice gesture from the Blue Jays and we really appreciate that. We spent the day in the park on Adam’s first official day as a Blue Jay.”
A BRONX TALE
The anticipation and excitement continued to build as the Blue Jays left Detroit for a date with the Yankees in the Bronx.
Patrick Corbin got the start for Toronto in this one against Ryan Weathers. Corbin allowed three runs through four innings before Braydon Fisher got the ball and worked into the sixth inning.
Macko took over with two outs in the bottom of the sixth with the Jays up 5-3 and a runner on first base. He got catcher J.C. Escarra to ground out to first base to end the inning.
The 6-foot tall moundsman returned for the seventh inning to face the top of the Yankees lineup, and first baseman Paul Goldschmidt also grounded out to Vladimir Guerrero Jr. Designated hitter Ben Rice then lined out to Yohendrick Pinango in right field and that was the end of Macko’s night, which was a one, two, three outing that earned him his first official MLB hold. Of his 15 pitches thrown, 10 went for strikes.
“My knees were weak when I stepped on the field. The lights went out and I was like, ‘This is a cool entrance. Is this for me? Why are they doing this? I’m on the road.’ It was amazing. I honestly blacked out for a lot of it,” said Macko after the game, which the Yankees ended up winning 7-6.
“Once I got on the mound, I felt like I’d done this before and I’d be okay … the feeling when I got out there was like no feeling I’ve ever had.”
At Yankee Stadium, Macko’s fan club grew exponentially, with high school friends and coaches added to the mix. Les McTavish, the head coach at the Vauxhall Academy of Baseball, and former Jets teammates Carlin Dick and Ben Adams were in the crowd, cheering him on.
“Vauxhall is a family thing and once you are a Jet, you are always a Jet. You understand that motto way better once you experience that. And we are one of those families that have that privilege,” noted the elder Macko.
For Vladimir, a lifetime of memories flooded back during his son’s introduction to big-league play.
“It was surreal to watch him walk on the field in a regular season MLB game. He has been through ups and downs, but you see those little things, little moments in your life, like when we built a batting net or when we went to see him play in his elementary school and a ball went by him and he just stared at it and didn’t move, little things like that,” he said.
“This game is about feelings, passion, excitement … this game isn’t about the size, speed or muscles. It all starts inside, in your heart, and that connection between other players through your heart.”
Memories of Vauxhall and Adam’s time pitching under Spruce Grove Bantam AAA White Sox coach Kevin Inch came to mind. Vladimir recalled a tournament in Kamloops where opponents were frustrated because Macko was only throwing fastballs but the batters couldn’t hit them.
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“Kevin was his very first coach in Canada and he has had a huge influence on Adam. Kevin was a coach, mentor, friend,” said Vladimir.
And the more recent recollection of a group chat with Adam announcing his callup is also fresh in Vladimir’s mind.
“We erupted with joy. We were shouting like crazy. It was a happy group of people who couldn’t even fully express how happy we were,” he said.
THE ORIGIN STORY
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.
Macko’s story has become well-known over the years as baseball watchers have tracked his origin story.
With his MLB debut now in the record books, Macko becomes the first Slovakian-born player in the major leagues since Elmer Valo of the 1961 Philadelphia Phillies.
He found baseball on his first day of grade one in Bratislava when he noticed team tryouts happening at school. Macko hit some plastic balls off a tee into some netting and played catch. After the tryout, he signed up.
His parents were stunned and knew very little about the sport.
Macko continued to play baseball at school, but his competition was limited.
“We only ever played one other team that was 30 minutes away,” he said.
“Every time we played, we played in the finals and were guaranteed silver. The competition was scarce, so I tried to make the best of it and challenge myself as much as I could.”
In 2012, the Macko family – 11-year-old Adam, Vladimir, mom Milena and Adam’s sister Tereza – packed up and moved to Ireland. They were also accompanied by Adam’s sister Tana, her husband Rasto, and their son Jakub. The long-term goal was a move to Canada, but Ireland worked in the short term.
The family settled in Bray, south of Dublin, which was home to the Greystones Mariners baseball club. It was the oldest and best baseball club the country had to offer and Adam excelled there, winning a Little League title.
“I remember the first couple of practices when I had to translate a bit for him. He did not know English at that time,” said Vladimir, adding there was more competition and more games in Ireland than in his home country.
That’s when Adam started to take the game more seriously. Studying video online became a big part of his development. He sought out any Justin Verlander and David Price videos he could find.
“I never paid attention to how much time I’ve spent by the laptop studying baseball and watching videos on YouTube because it’s something I loved to do,” said Adam.
Vladimir ultimately took a job in the Edmonton area in 2013, which placed Adam in the Spruce Grove baseball system. From there, he enrolled at the Vauxhall Academy of Baseball and honed his craft.
“You never hear of players from Slovakia and you never hear of players from Ireland,” said McTavish.
“But as he continued to mature and grow, he came down for a visit and as soon as you meet Adam, he’s infectious. He has this great confidence about him. Then as soon as he got on the mound it was clear this kid knew what he was doing.”
Fellow Vauxhall coach Jim Kotkas also saw something special in Macko.
“Adam is the only player I’ve ever been around where I said, ‘I can see him in the big leagues.’ Just the way he handled himself around us for three years and how the bigger the moment, the bigger he got, which is kind of unlike a lot of Canadian kids,” noted Kotkas.
Former Vauxhall teammate, Maddux Mateychuk, recalled watching an incredibly driven athlete in Macko.
“His work ethic was insane. Just how he came to work every day was really fun to watch,” Mateychuk said.
“The difference in his mindset compared to most others is crazy. He wants to be the best all the time and he will outwork anyone who challenges him.”
GOING PRO
Macko was impressive enough that the Seattle Mariners chose him with their 7th-round selection in the 2019 MLB Draft.
After a couple of seasons in the Mariners’ farm system, Macko was traded alongside Erik Swanson to the Blue Jays for slugger Teoscar Hernandez following the 2022 season.
“If Adam can stay healthy we are really going to see him take off with the Jays,” said McTavish after the deal was made.
“The Mariners had him as their top left-handed pitching prospect and everyone involved with the Vauxhall program are really excited to see what he can do for the Jays. We couldn’t ask for a better spot than with Canada’s team.”
Justin Hollander, the general manager of the Mariners, discussed sending Swanson and Macko to the Blue Jays on the Brock & Salk show on Seattle Sports 710 AM.
“When they asked for Macko and we ultimately settled on that, it was probably the tenth time that they’ve asked us for Adam Macko over the years since we drafted him,” said Hollander.
“That they had asked about Macko so many times didn’t surprise me that they circled back to him. One, he’s good and, two, I think they always have a soft spot for the Canadian kids.”
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.
The Blue Jays gave him a major vote of confidence during their memorable run to the World Series last year.
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 lefthander says it was another eye-opening opportunity to see the Blue Jays come so 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.”
It also served as inspiration 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.”
Macko got a head-to-head look at top MLB talent earlier this year, as well.
In one of the biggest baseball games in Canada’s history at the World Baseball Classic, Macko took the mound in the quarterfinal game against the United States.
In the sixth inning with two runners on, he was summoned to shut things down. A pair of singles from Brice Turang and Pete Crow-Armstrong plated two runs and inflated the American lead to 5-0. But Macko induced a double play to limit the damage after that.
He returned to the mound in the seventh inning after a Tyler Black single scored Owen Caissie and a monster home run from Bo Naylor cut the lead to 5-3. Macko locked in ahead of the seventh inning stretch against the heart of the U.S. order. He struck out Bryce Harper, got reigning American League MVP Aaron Judge to fly out and then prompted Kyle Schwarber to strike out swinging to end a four-pitch at bat.
The final line for the 25-year-old showed two hits, a pair of Ks and no earned runs.
At Triple-A in Buffalo this year, Macko made 13 relief appearances and went 2-2 with 19 strikeouts and a 4.50 ERA in 18 innings in the International League.
But his most important stats came on May 18th in New York: one relief appearance, one inning pitched, no hits, no walks, no runs … and a major league dream realized.
