Every year, baseball fields worldwide are stuffed with hundreds of younger, native phenoms seeking to be the subsequent 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 degree.
And whereas predicting an athlete’s future efficiency is under no circumstances a precise science, it’s typically stated that so as to be the very best, expertise alone isn’t sufficient. Specialists can probably agree on this: Work ethic and dedication are oftentimes the nice separators between mid-level prospect and perennial All-Star.
In the present day, in the case of who’s essentially the most proficient and genetically gifted participant in baseball, Machado’s title is at or close to the highest of each baseball authority’s record. You can even throw in most devoted athlete as effectively. 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 house runs to his credit score, the 33-year-old is a well-rounded juggernaut, adequate to have turn into one of many recreation’s most revered gamers and incomes him the form 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, underneath the watchful eye of tremendous coach Nick Soto, one of the vital well-rounded athletic coaches on the earth.
Soto’s strategy may very well be labeled unconventional, however after witnessing his star shopper’s efficiency for greater than a decade, it’s been confirmed efficient. The coach focuses on explosiveness, speed, and the kind of overall functional strength that helps his purchasers attain the highest of their recreation.
Soto’s fashion doesn’t resemble the cookie-cutter strategy deployed by most athletic trainers—he builds applications with a deep understanding of his shopper’s strengths, musculature, vulnerabilities, psychological toughness, and an array of different elements that hold his elite athletes on the high of their recreation 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 sector begins with what I’m doing within the fitness center, away from the brilliant lights.”
Consistency Retains Manny Machado on the High of His Sport
Machado’s exercise routine by no means adjustments. The second the season ends, he and Soto might be discovered almost daily on the College of Miami’s baseball coaching facility. It’s no secret that South Florida is house to among 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 recreation as each a coach and as a pacesetter in his area. 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 at last being resilient sufficient to deal with the stress of the motion patterns so we are able to mitigate accidents as a lot as doable.”
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 crew—it’s his seventh All-Star look. However on the identical time his affect has prolonged past the baseball area. He and together with his spouse Yainee are the mother and father 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 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 recreation. Nonetheless, Machado realizes that baseball is a crew sport, and his most important aim stays getting that elusive World Collection ring.
“I’ve been capable of do some nice issues within the recreation, however the aim 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 daily.”
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 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 achieved, he’ll go down as probably the greatest to ever play the sport.”
Soto research Machado’s efficiency at varied factors in the course of the season, looking for methods to raise his recreation.
“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 recreation the place my guys are enjoying I’m taking a look at motion patterns, [I’m looking at], do they give the impression of being snug, 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 wish them to be prepared when the stakes are the very best.”
Make sure to tune in to the 2025 MLB All-Star recreation 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
