Getting to know Adam Macko, the prospect the Blue Jays received in the Teoscar Hernandez trade
1 year ago
So, you probably clicked this article wondering about the prospect the Jays got in return for Teoscar Hernandez.
Adam Macko was born in Slovakia, grew up in Ireland, and spent his high school years in Alberta. The Seattle Mariners drafted the 21-year-old left-handed pitcher in the 7th round of the 2019 draft.
Macko has only pitched in 95 professional innings in affiliated ball, posting a 3.98 ERA in that stretch. However, he racks up strikeouts as he has a 35 K% between rookie ball, Low A and High A ball.
While he may be destined for the bullpen, as Prospects Live’s Joe Doyle notes in the tweet below, Macko started all 17 games he appeared in this season. Even if he ends up as a reliever, a comparison to prime Brad Hand (not his Toronto form) isn’t bad.
Macko also pitched in the Arizona Fall League, where he posted a 6.08 ERA in 13.1 innings pitched, with a 21.9 K% and a 20.3 BB%. In his last appearance on November 10th, he went nine up, nine down, and struck out five along the way, you can watch his strikeout thread below.
Per Pipeline, the 21-year-old has a fastball that averages around 93-94 mph, but has touched 97 mph dating back to 2021. He also has a hard slider and a curveball which has an RPM (spin rate) of over 2700. He was set to rank as MLB Pipeline’s 12th-ranked M’s prospect prior to the trade.
Joe Doyle, who previously profiled Macko extensively during his tenure at Lookout Landing, had this to say:
“Macko hides his breaking balls well with significant tunnel off the fastball. His fastball presents unique shape from a low-launch as well, though it lacks top end velocity.”
It’s safe to say that the Jays got a pretty good prospect in Adam Macko. It’s likely he’ll start the 2023 season with the New Hampshire Fisher Cats in Double A. It will be interesting to see whether the Jays keep him as a starter.
Interestingly, the would have three pretty darn good left-handed starters in the high minors in that case. The other two are Jimmy Robbins and Ricky Tiedemann.
I really like this trade, albeit I’m sad that Teoscar Hernandez has been traded, especially to the Mariners.
As always, you can follow me on Twitter @Brennan_L_D. Give Joe Doyle a follow at @JoeDoyleMiLB, as well as Prospects Live @ProspectsLive.
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