Blue Jays Left-Handed Pitching Prospect Adam Macko Likely to Miss Time Due to Injury

The Slovakian, by way of Canada, could need surgery to repair a suspected meniscus tear in his left knee.

Jami Leabow | Feb 18, 2025

A baseball cap and glove sit on the Toronto Blue Jays dugout steps as they host the Seattle Mariners in their home opener at Rogers Centre in Toronto on April 8, 2024. / Dan Hamilton-Imagn Images

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Toronto Blue Jays

After being selected in the seventh round of the 2019 MLB Draft, Toronto Blue Jays pitching prospect Adam Macko finally reached the highest levels of the minor leagues in 2024.

Now, hopes of further advancement likely have been dashed, at least for now.

Toronto manager John Schneider said Monday at Blue Jays spring training in Dunedin, Florida, that the left-hander has a probable meniscus tear in his left knee and likely will need surgery to fix it.

Schneider told reporters that Macko informed the team over the weekend that something didn’t feel right, according to Keegan Matheson of MLB.com.

Adam Macko, one of the #BlueJays’ top pitching prospects, felt some discomfort in his left knee recently.

The MRI showed a “probably meniscus tear” that will likely lead to surgery, John Schneider says.
— Keegan Matheson (@KeeganMatheson) February 17, 2025

The Seattle Mariners are the team that drafted Macko, a native of Slovakia who played high school ball in the Canadian province of Alberta. The Blue Jays acquired him along with right-hander Erik Swanson in the trade that sent outfield Teoscar Hernandez to Seattle on Nov. 16, 2022.

Macko, 24, spent the 2023 season at High-A Vancouver, then earned a 2024 promotion to Double-A New Hampshire. Before that season, MLB Pipeline had Macko ranked No. 9 overall and the No. 5 pitching prospect in the Toronto farm system.

Ahead of the 2025 season, Baseball America listed him as Toronto’s No. 20 prospect but had nice things to say about him in its scouting report:

“Macko’s deceptive three-quarters arm slot with a crossfire finish is particularly difficult on righthanded hitters, whom he held to an OPS of just .647 in 2024. Macko’s fastball sits 91-93 mph with average ride and above-average armside run. His primary secondary is a cut-slider at 82-83 mph against which hitters produced an .858 OPS. His curveball is his best secondary pitch but trails the slider in usage; it sits in the mid 70s with a wicked two-plane break. In 2024 batters hit just .102 with a 36.2% whiff rate against the curveball."

At Double-A New Hampshire in 2024, Macko made 16 appearances (all starts) and was 5-5 with a 4.87 ERA over 81.1 innings. He threw in one game for the Triple A Buffalo Bisons, giving up three runs in three innings.

He has shown enough promise that Macko deserves a good look from Toronto when he’s healthy.

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