Adam Macko is a 24-year-old, left-handed pitcher. The Jays added him to the 40-man roster in November 2023, protecting him from the Rule 5 draft.
He came to us in the Teoscar Hernandez trade from the Mariners, along with Erik Swanson. Adam was born in Slovakia. His family moved to Ireland and then came to Alberta to go to the Vauxhall Baseball Academy.
Macko was #13 on our top 40 prospect list before last season. He’ll have moved up since then. Matt wrote:
Listed at 6’0” and 170 pounds (though looking much more filled out), Macko has a full four pitch mix though none of them stand out as a true plus pitch/ plus weapon. His fastball has firmed up, much more frequently in the 93-95 range than previously though he’ll struggle at times to throw strikes. His most visually distinctive pitch is the curve with incredible depth, now thrown in the mid-to-high-70s. It can mix things up and steals some strikes, but we’ll see if it fools elite hitters. He’s increasingly used his slider, which comparatively almost present as more cutter like, and his change-up will flash plus at its best but comes and goes quality wise.
With Macko the whole is more than the sum of the parts, and the healthy 2023 alleviates concern/risk around injuries and ability to stay healthy. He’s trending towards a back-end starter, with strikethrowing and consistency a key point to watch going foward. There’s not a lot sepearting the three pitchers on this segment of the list, with the order more in the eye of the beholder depending on what one emphasizes.
Keith Law has him #11 on his list of Jays prospects this year:
Macko had a decent half-season in Double A, working with a four-pitch mix now rather than just fastball/slider, but he missed almost two months with a sore forearm, the third time in four years he’s been on the injured list with arm trouble. His story is great — he was born in Slovakia, picked up baseball living in Ireland, then went to high school in Canada — and it’ll be better if he gets to the big leagues, which has to happen in the bullpen given the evidence he can’t handle a full season as a starter.
Last year, he pitched at A, AA and AAA, with a 4.63 ERA in 20 starts. In 93.1 innings, he allowed 78 hits, 10 home runs, 35 walks, and 105 strikeouts. And missed time with a sore forearm as noted above.
Law might be right that he’s destined to be a reliever, but I think the team will give Adam a chance to prove him wrong.
He throws a mid-90s fastball, a 12 to 6 curve, a slider and a change.
Adam has two option years left. I think he’ll start the season as a starter in Buffalo and hope to show he is the best choice when an opening comes up in Toronto.
I think we’ll see him at some point this year. Steamer figures he’ll pitch in 23 games and 30 innings and have a 4.09 ERA. ZiPs figured 19 starts (but then they don’t try to project how much a player will play) with a 4.72 ERA in 82 innings.