Annually, baseball fields worldwide are crammed with hundreds of younger, native phenoms trying to be the subsequent Manny Machado. On the identical time, professional scouts are tasked with scouring these identical international sandlots to select the handful of potential standouts who could—or could not—excel on the subsequent stage.
And whereas predicting an athlete’s future efficiency is in no way an actual science, it’s usually mentioned that with the intention to be the very best, expertise alone is rarely sufficient. Consultants can probably agree on this: Work ethic and dedication are oftentimes the good separators between mid-level prospect and perennial All-Star.
Right now, in terms of who’s essentially the most gifted and genetically gifted participant in baseball, Machado’s identify is at or close to the highest of each baseball authority’s listing. You can even throw in most devoted athlete as properly. 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, adequate to have grow to be one of many sport’s most revered gamers and incomes him the sort 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 fitness center, beneath the watchful eye of tremendous coach Nick Soto, probably the most well-rounded athletic coaches on the earth.
Soto’s strategy may very well 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, velocity, and the sort of general practical power that helps his purchasers attain the highest of their sport.
Soto’s model doesn’t resemble the cookie-cutter strategy 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 elements that preserve his elite athletes on the prime of their sport 12 months in and 12 months out. Machado isn’t any exception.
“I’ve been coaching with Nick for a very long time,” explains Machado. “His understanding of physiology and general efficiency has been an enormous a part of my improvement. Success on the sphere begins with what I’m doing within the fitness center, away from the brilliant 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 might be discovered almost each day 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 very best of the very best, forcing him to always up his sport as each a coach and as a frontrunner in his subject. Soto additionally serves as power & conditioning coach for the Hurricanes baseball workforce, 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 having 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 will mitigate accidents as a lot as potential.”
In different phrases, Soto says, “I need to make athletes explosive, superior movers, who’re resilient in physique and thoughts.”
Machado was lately named a starter on the Nationwide League All Star workforce—it’s his seventh All-Star look. However on the identical time his affect has prolonged past the baseball subject. He and together with his spouse Yainee are the dad and mom of 1-year-old son. On the identical time Machado additionally grew to become 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 essential now than it’s ever been. And he’s displaying no indicators of slowing down. His profession stats place him among the many greatest energetic gamers within the sport. Nevertheless, Machado realizes that baseball is a workforce sport, and his principal objective stays getting that elusive World Sequence ring.
“I’ve been capable of 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 each day.”
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 fireplace. He’s actual. Not everybody understands his distinctive strategy to the sport, however he’s the final word teammate and his low season exercises with Nick Soto are an enormous a part of his success. When it’s all mentioned and completed, he’ll go down as top-of-the-line to ever play the sport.”
Soto research Machado’s efficiency at numerous factors throughout the season, looking for methods to raise his sport.
“A humorous truth 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 once I watch a sport the place my guys are enjoying I’m motion patterns, [I’m looking at], do they appear snug, fast, quick, explosive, tight? Are they kicking too far behind after they need to take off on a dash? These are the issues I discover. An athlete ought to be striving for bodily enchancment because the season progresses, we would like them to be prepared when the stakes are the best.”
Be sure you tune in to the 2025 MLB All-Star sport on July 15 (televised on FOX), and watch Machado together with the very best in baseball.
To be taught extra about Nick Soto’s strategy to coaching elite athlete athletes, go to the www.EliteUperformance.com
