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Inside The Blue Jays

Blue Jays Welcoming Adam Macko to the Hill Against O’s for First Career Start

Toronto waited until last minute to make the call, but the rookie is going to throw the first pitch Friday.
Maddy Dickens|
May 18, 2026; Bronx, New York, USA; Toronto Blue Jays relief pitcher Adam Macko (64) pitches against the New York Yankees during the sixth inning at Yankee Stadium. Macko is making his MLB debut.
May 18, 2026; Bronx, New York, USA; Toronto Blue Jays relief pitcher Adam Macko (64) pitches against the New York Yankees during the sixth inning at Yankee Stadium. Macko is making his MLB debut. | Brad Penner-Imagn Images

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Toronto Blue Jays

There had been plenty of speculation going on as to who would make the start on Friday in Dylan Cease's spot after he was placed on the 15-Day IL with a mild left hamstring strain. Cease came out mid-start against the Pittsburgh Pirates last Sunday, but he is adamant he will not be gone long.

In the meantime, however, that created a monumental hole in an already bleeding starting rotation, and it took until Friday morning for the Blue Jays to decide who was going to step in against the Baltimore Orioles: rookie Adam Macko.

Macko made his debut out of the bullpen merely weeks ago in the Bronx against the New York Yankees. He pitched three games in that four-game stretch and has not shied away from the big leagues whatsoever.

The 25-year-old has thrown in six games now for Toronto and has yet to allow a run, or a walk, to complement a WHIP of 0.92. The sample size is small, but Macko's command and poise have been excellent.

On top of how well he is performing, this is the best opportunity for him, and the offense on Friday, to gain confidence as the O's are trotting out Trevor Rogers to the mound, who has a near 7.00 ERA on the year.

Game 2 Preview Between Jays and Orioles

George Springer hits a baseball in a blue Blue Jays jerse
Blue Jays designated hitter George Springer (4) hits a double against the Pittsburgh Pirates in the fifth inning at Rogers Centre. | Dan Hamilton-Imagn Images

Macko hasn't yet thrown two innings consecutively, but it seems likely that will come with a handful of high-leverage arms coming out of the pen Thursday night as Braydon Fisher, Tyler Rogers, Jeff Hoffman, and Louis Varland all threw in the team's 2-1 victory.

On top of their usage, and with a lacking starting rotation right now, another bullpen game is probably coming Sunday, with Spencer Miles taking the lion's share of the reps again. This has been an effective method thus far, but the pace is not sustainable.

With Baltimore bringing out Rogers, the bats have a real chance to gain some confidence and explode. They need to find consistent power and figure out how to hit with runners on base, which has been a huge problem up to now.

On top of Rogers' issues keeping runs off the board, he is walking guys at an incredibly high rate, 12 in his last seven games. This is a chance for the Jays to also practice patience in the box, stop chasing, and draw some walks of their own.

If Toronto wins Game 2, they will be .500 on the year, which is a threshold that the Jays have been flirting with recently, but haven't broken through. Today is the day.

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Maddy Dickens
MADDY DICKENS

Maddy Dickens resides in Loveland, Colorado. She grew up with two older brothers, where their lives revolved around sports. She earned a master's degree in business management from Tarleton State University while simultaneously playing basketball and competing in rodeo at the collegiate level. She successfully parlayed a reserve national championship into a professional rodeo career and now stays involved in upper-level athletics by writing for On SI on several different MLB teams' pages, along with some NCAA sites.