Mariners take Slovakian-born LHP Adam Macko in the 7th round

The Mariners continue to restock their pitching all in one draft, taking lefty Adam Macko out of Vauxhall Academy in Alberta, Canada. Mack isn’t just any pitchability lefty, though: born in Slovakia, Macko taught himself to pitch by studying YouTube videos of David Price and Justin Verlander. Baseball caught Macko’s attention early, when as a child in Bratislava (Slovakia’s capital) he went to a school tryout, then proudly announced to his father Vladimir that he had signed up for baseball. “Baseball? In Slovakia? Impossible!” was apparently his father’s retort, but young Adam hung in with the sport.

After his family moved to Ireland when Adam was 11, he took the opportunity to grow his love for his sport, playing for the Greystone Mariners (!), with whom he won a Little League title. Discovering he had an aptitude for the sport, Adam set out to learn as much as he could about pitching, hunting down every video he could find of Price and Verlander and studying their motions until he could replicate them perfectly. When the family moved to Alberta, Canada the next year, Macko was able to make the kinds of connections that eventually got him to Vauxhall Academy, one of the nation’s premiere producers of MLB talent, and eventually onto scouts’ radars.

At 6’0/180, Macko has some growing to do, but how much size and strength he can add will likely be capped by his height. Currently his fastball sits in the high 80s, and he also shows feel for a curveball with some tilt and a changeup. His arm action is easy and clean, and if you squint, you can definitely see a little Price/Verlander in there: