Dunedin Snapshots: Adam Macko

By: Brian Frank

Adam Macko was born in Slovakia and moved to Canada when he was 13 years old. The left-handed hurler and graduate of Alberta’s Vauxhall Academy of Baseball has long dreamed of representing Canada in the World Baseball Classic. That dream became reality when Macko received a phone call during the offseason from Canada National Team director Greg Hamilton.

“We were in contact, kind of back and forth,” Macko said from Blue Jays spring training camp in Dunedin, Florida. “He told me that I'd be in the mix. I was kind of hoping that I would get a call from him. I think it was a couple days before it was announced, and I was obviously very excited. I was at home at that point and just kind of sitting on the couch—and was very excited when he said what he said.”

Macko on the mound for the Herd last summer. Photo Credit: Brian Frank, The Herd Chronicles

Macko made his Triple-A debut with the Bisons in 2024, logging one late-season start for the Herd. Last season, he began on the injured list after arthroscopic surgery to repair a torn meniscus in his left knee. After rehabbing his way back through the Blue Jays' system, he ultimately appeared in 18 games (10 starts) for Buffalo.

The now-25-year-old said the jump to Triple-A has tested him mentally as much as physically.

“You just see a lot of polished hitters who not only have the raw ability and the talent, but they just think through at-bats,” he said. “They're very smart in how they approach things. They know your weaknesses, they know their strengths, and they really play to those. I've been told that High-A to Double-A is one of the biggest jumps that you can make in a career. But I found, I think maybe it was just my year that everybody that I played in High-A with, and against, kind of moved up with me to Double-A, so it was similar in terms of the people that I faced. But when I got to Triple-A, you could definitely feel the difference, like a lot of older guys who haven't been around. That's when it turns into more of the mind game and a chess game than just pure talent and pitching, so that's probably the biggest difference.”

After an up and down start to his time in Triple-A, he finished the season strong, recording a 2.45 ERA across his final seven appearances (22 IP).

“I went through my fair share of struggles last year for a little bit, and I've learned a lot from that,” he explained. “It was kind of that chess game part of things, where I really had to kind of pick up the slack on that and really be a thinker out there, as well as just a thrower. That was something—like doing some scouting reports on the other hitters and also understanding what they're trying to do against me and why—why they may or may not be successful, and playing to those things was really big for me. So more like the strategy part of the game has really opened up for me.”

The Seattle Mariners' seventh round pick in the the 2019 MLB June Amateur Draft, Macko was acquired by the Blue Jays prior to the 2023 season along with reliever Erik Swanson for slugging outfielder Teosacar Hernandez. He uses a four-pitch mix on the mound, consisting of a four-seam fastball, slider, changeup, and curveball. He spent the offseason focused on refining his changeup in order to keep batters off balance.

“(It) was a big changeup offseason for me,” he said. “I really have dialed that down to where I felt really good throwing that in my bullpens and I was just kind of getting the reps in against hitters and stuff like that. But that's a pitch that I figured out what the hitters plan against me is. I kind of eliminated the changeup because I haven't been able to throw in the zone as much. Now that I feel confident with it, being able to throw that in any count is going to be huge for me this year.”

Macko had a 2.45 ERA in his final 22 IP of 2025. Photo Credit: Brian Frank, The Herd Chronicles

“I was a big tinkerer my whole career,” he continued, “and I've been always trying to improve on the things that I have. It's still going on with the small tweaks—but it's mostly my curveball, my fastball, and my slider that are set. My changeup grip hasn't changed. For a long time, I've really been just trying to stick with that one thing and get good at it and do one thing 1000 times instead of 1000 things once. So that's kind of been my motto for the last couple of years, and it's really paying off. So everything is pretty much set. It's just kind of getting the sights on where I'm trying to throw the ball, how it feels out of the hand, and why it may or may not be working for me on a certain day. Understanding those things is big for me.”

He enjoys the gamesmanship of live batting practice during spring training, when pitchers face hitters in competitive at-bats.

“I do enjoy live at-bats a lot," he said. "I kind of like that friendly environment where you're competing against your friends, and you’ve seen them before and how they approach pitchers, and you try to kind of battle that. It's a lot of fun. You get some bragging rights on a couple people. Some people get you. I love doing that.”

He also enjoys the collaboration that follows that competition—sharing information with hitters after live batting practices are over.

“After the lives are done, the batters that I face, they either come to me or I come to them, and if I see something in their swings and what they were doing, I tell them, and they tell me,” he said. “That's kind of the thing that I love. I'm a student of the game, and I love learning more and more about the strategy part. We're kind of going through at-bats, like why I threw this, because I was thinking that you were going to go for the heater up, but you actually weren't, you know. Learning from that and competing in that environment is some of the most fun that I can have.”

Now back at the Blue Jays' Player Development Complex for spring training, he’s eager to reconnect with teammates and prepare for the coming season.

“Just seeing everybody again and getting to catch up with the guys that I played with and catch up with the guys that were in the World Series, and talk to them, pick their brain about that stuff,” he smiled.

But, before the season begins, he'll finally get his chance to represent Canada in the WBC—fulfilling his long-held dream.

“You kind of hope that you get to do all the things that you watch people do on TV, and all the veterans and the big-caliber players that played for Team Canada—you just hope to be a part of that someday and help contribute and hold your own,” he said. “For the past couple WBCs, I have been watching. I knew that it wasn't necessarily in the mix before, but I was hoping that it might be coming around this time. … It's always been a goal of mine to play for Team Canada.”