Every year, baseball fields worldwide are stuffed with 1000’s of younger, native phenoms seeking to be the following Manny Machado. On the identical time, professional scouts are tasked with scouring these identical world sandlots to pick the handful of potential standouts who could—or could not—excel on the subsequent stage.
And whereas predicting an athlete’s future efficiency is on no account an actual science, it’s typically stated that in an effort to be the most effective, expertise alone is rarely sufficient. Specialists can probably agree on this: Work ethic and dedication are oftentimes the good separators between mid-level prospect and perennial All-Star.
In the present day, in relation to who’s essentially the most proficient and genetically gifted participant in baseball, Machado’s identify is at or close to the highest of each baseball authority’s listing. You may also throw in most devoted athlete as nicely. Now in his 14th season, the San Diego Padres All-Star third-baseman’s fielding prowess is the stuff of legend—watching Machado throw a baseball throughout the infield can nonetheless make jaws drop and eyes pop.
After which there’s his offensive dominance. With 356 residence runs to his credit score, the 33-year-old is a well-rounded juggernaut, ok to have grow to be one of many sport’s most revered gamers and incomes him the type of wage (in 2023, Machado signed an 11-year, $350 million contract) that has secured generational wealth.
As Machado ready for the 2025 season—his seventh as a member of the Padres—he spent most of this offseason within the health club, underneath the watchful eye of tremendous coach Nick Soto, one of the vital well-rounded athletic coaches on this planet.
Soto’s method could possibly be labeled unconventional, however after witnessing his star consumer’s efficiency for greater than a decade, it’s been confirmed efficient. The coach focuses on explosiveness, pace, and the type of total useful energy that helps his purchasers attain the highest of their sport.
Soto’s model doesn’t resemble the cookie-cutter method deployed by most athletic trainers—he builds applications with a deep understanding of his consumer’s strengths, musculature, vulnerabilities, psychological toughness, and an array of different components that preserve his elite athletes on the high of their sport yr in and yr out. Machado isn’t any exception.
“I’ve been coaching with Nick for a very long time,” explains Machado. “His understanding of physiology and total efficiency has been an enormous a part of my improvement. Success on the sphere begins with what I’m doing within the health club, away from the intense lights.”
Consistency Retains Manny Machado on the High of His Recreation
Machado’s exercise routine by no means modifications. The second the season ends, he and Soto could be discovered almost on daily basis on the College of Miami’s baseball coaching facility. It’s no secret that South Florida is residence to a number of the most elite baseball expertise on the planet, a actuality that surrounds Soto with the most effective of the most effective, forcing him to continually up his sport as each a coach and as a frontrunner in his discipline. Soto additionally serves as energy & conditioning coach for the Hurricanes baseball crew, a five-time nationwide championship program.
“It’s all about making somebody as highly effective and explosive as they are often,” he explains, “all whereas with the ability to transfer and coordinate at optimum angles and with optimum timing, and eventually being resilient sufficient to deal with the stress of the motion patterns so we are able to mitigate accidents as a lot as attainable.”
In different phrases, Soto says, “I need to make athletes explosive, superior movers, who’re resilient in physique and thoughts.”
Machado was just lately named a starter on the Nationwide League All Star crew—it’s his seventh All-Star look. However on the identical time his affect has prolonged past the baseball discipline. He and along with his spouse Yainee are the dad and mom of 1-year-old son. On the identical time Machado additionally turned part-owner of Main League Soccer’s San Diego FC.
As he continues piling up Corridor of Fame-like numbers, Machado understands that his low season coaching is extra vital now than it’s ever been. And he’s displaying no indicators of slowing down. His profession stats place him among the many finest energetic gamers within the sport. Nevertheless, Machado realizes that baseball is a crew sport, and his major objective stays getting that elusive World Sequence ring.
“I’ve been in a position to do some nice issues within the sport, however the objective is the ring,” Machado says. “That’s why I play—to win and to offer the followers in San Diego what they deserve. That’s why I put within the work on daily basis.”
Olympia President Dan Solomon has adopted Machado’s baseball profession from the start. “Manny is completely different. His uncooked expertise speaks for itself, however what separates him is his depth, his hearth. He’s actual. Not everybody understands his distinctive method to the sport, however he’s the last word teammate and his low season exercises with Nick Soto are an enormous a part of his success. When it’s all stated and carried out, he’ll go down as probably the greatest to ever play the sport.”
Soto research Machado’s efficiency at numerous factors through the season, looking for methods to raise his sport.
“A humorous reality is I’m not an enormous baseball fan in any respect,” confesses Soto, “I’m a participant fan, and I’m a fan of motion. So after I watch a sport the place my guys are enjoying I’m motion patterns, [I’m looking at], do they appear comfy, fast, quick, explosive, tight? Are they kicking too far behind once they should take off on a dash? These are the issues I discover. An athlete must be striving for bodily enchancment because the season progresses, we would like them to be prepared when the stakes are the best.”
Make sure to tune in to the 2025 MLB All-Star sport on July 15 (televised on FOX), and watch Machado together with the most effective in baseball.
To be taught extra about Nick Soto’s method to coaching elite athlete athletes, go to the www.EliteUperformance.com
