Former Jet impresses at World Baseball Classic

By Cole Parkinson
Taber Times

In a great showing from Team Canada at this year’s World Baseball Classic (WBC), it was a former Vauxhall Academy of Baseball Jet that turned some heads. Pitching out of the bullpen, Adam Macko (born in Slovakia, but raised in Canada) was a crucial cog in getting Canada out of the group stage for the first time in the tournament’s history.

Macko attended VAB for three seasons before being drafted in the seventh round of the 2019 Major League Baseball (MLB) draft by the Seattle Mariners. He was traded to the Toronto Blue Jays in 2022 and has been pitching in the minor leagues since.

“It was awesome. I was nervous and excited all at the same time. Adam and I are pretty close, and we talk quite often. We talked before that game (quarter-final against the USA), and we talked after that game. It was fun, and it was a proud coaching moment to think we had a small piece in the puzzle to help him to that point,” said Les McTavish, head coach of the Jets.

Canada would go 3-1 in the group stage of Pool with wins against Colombia, Cuba, and Puerto Rico and a loss against Panama. Team Canada would fall in the quarter-finals with a loss to the U.S., while Venezuela would win the tournament with a 3-2 win over the States.

Macko would pitch in three games in the WBC, and the lefty gave Canada 2.1 innings without allowing a run. He allowed only three hits while striking out four. His biggest moment came in the quarter finals when he pitched 1.2 innings with two strikeouts.

“It was funny, I joked with Adam after the game. I said ‘how did it feel to get four future Hall of Famers out?’ That was Bobby Witt Jr., (Bryce) Harper, (Aaron) Judge, and (Kyle) Schwarber. He said that some of the bullpen pitchers had said they have the ‘Avengers’ out there. That was pretty neat,” added McTavish. “Kind of ironic that he said he couldn’t remember that last time he cared (about the result) that much. Because when you are in the minors, it’s about you as opposed to the team. He said the last time he cared that much was pitching at Bishop Gorman (tournament in Las Vegas) in high school.”

Macko is currently with the Blue Jays’ AAA affiliate, the Buffalo Bisons. He is ranked as the number nine prospect for Toronto, according to MLB.com Top Prospects.