For 13-year-old Filipino baseball prospect Aiden Lazaro, the road toward his ultimate dream of playing in Major League Baseball has taken him thousands of miles from home.
The Philippine junior standout recently completed the first phase of his development program at IMG Academy in Bradenton, Florida, gaining valuable exposure to elite-level facilities, training methods and competition at one of the world’s most renowned sports education and athletic development institutions.
For Lazaro, the opportunity represents more than simply another step in his baseball journey. It is a chance to test himself in a highly competitive environment as he pursues an ambitious goal: becoming the first homegrown player from the Philippines to reach the MLB.
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“I think it’s pretty wild that I am the first, but mainly I don’t let any of the pressure or expectations get to me that much. I just imagine that I’m just training normally and to just play my game,” Lazaro said in a media interaction.
“Right now, my goal currently is to just train and get better. But you know, in the future, the ultimate goal is obviously to play in the MLB, play professionally.”
Lazaro’s aspirations come with a growing awareness of the history surrounding Filipino baseball players who have attempted to make their mark in the American professional game.
The closest the MLB has come to having a Philippine native play in the league dates back to Claudio Manela of Cavite, who played for the Cincinnati Cuban Stars in the Negro Leagues in the 1920s.
Bobby Chouinard, meanwhile, is recognized as the first player born in Manila to play in the MLB following its integration in 1947, appearing for the Oakland Athletics.
Lazaro hopes to eventually add his name to that history, but for now, the young pitcher remains focused on development rather than the weight of expectations that come with his ambitions.
His experience at IMG Academy has provided him with an early glimpse of what it takes to compete at an elite level.
“It felt so surreal that I was able to train at the facilities that a lot of ex-professional and still professional players use almost every day,” Lazaro said.
“I also love that I was in a new training environment where I could play with people of my skill level and even higher.”
Beyond the physical aspects of the game, Lazaro was particularly impressed by IMG Academy’s emphasis on developing athletes away from the playing field.
The academy’s holistic approach combines athletic training with mental and personal development, something Lazaro believes will be equally important as he continues to progress.
“I really felt like I belong there and I really liked their training plans and not just the fact that they train athletes to become better at their sport, but also train athletes mentally to become better leaders and better teammates for others,” he said.
Varsity Sports:
Aiden Lazaro is the first-ever homegrown Filipino recruit to train at the prestigious IMG Academy in Bradenton, Florida. The 13-year-old junior baseball star and Ateneo de Manila student is undergoing an elite, long-term athletic development program…💙 pic.twitter.com/cK1H24al4d
— Team AMDG (@TeamAMDG) July 27, 2026
The opportunity also allowed Lazaro to represent more than just himself.
As the first homegrown Filipino player selected to train at the academy, the youngster said he takes pride in introducing his teammates and coaches in the United States to his country and his experiences playing baseball in the Philippines.
“When they ask me, I really love firstly telling them about the Philippines. And I love also telling them about all my bonds with teammates and all the teams I have played for in the Philippines,” Lazaro said.
“I think that’s a really big accomplishment for us since in the Philippines, the famous sports, obviously basketball and football. I really like that baseball is also getting more popular.”
Lazaro’s journey to IMG Academy also mirrors the early international development path taken by another Filipino sporting prodigy.
Philippine tennis star Alex Eala made the move toward elite overseas training at the age of 13, joining the Rafa Nadal Academy in Mallorca, Spain. That experience played an important role in her development and eventual rise to becoming one of the most accomplished tennis players in Philippine history.
IMG Academy’s sister brand, IMG Tennis Management, currently represents Eala, further illustrating the organization’s connection to Filipino athletes seeking to develop their talents on the international stage.
For Lazaro, however, the immediate task is to continue improving his game while balancing his commitments on both sides of the Pacific.
Despite spending time training in Florida, he remains a member of the Ateneo Blue Eagles baseball program and will continue traveling between the Philippines and the United States as he balances his education with his athletic development.
That dual commitment will be an important part of Lazaro’s development as he continues to grow both as a pitcher and as a student-athlete.
His first stint at IMG Academy has already given him a clearer understanding of the level he needs to reach. Rather than viewing the experience as an endpoint, Lazaro sees it as the beginning of a much longer journey.
“This year, for me, I’m expecting to train harder, be more disciplined and hopefully play at a higher level,” he said.
And while the dream of reaching the MLB remains years away, Lazaro already understands that the path toward professional baseball will be filled with challenges, setbacks and failures.
For the young Filipino, those obstacles are simply part of the process.
“For those who want to get into baseball, I really want to say that baseball is a sport where you can fail a lot of times, but still be good,” Lazaro said.
“So even if you face mistakes or problems, always keep pushing and find joy and love in the sport.”
For now, Lazaro’s focus remains firmly on getting better — one training session, one game and one opportunity at a time.
But with an elite development program behind him, international experience beginning to accumulate and an MLB dream firmly in sight, the young pitcher is already charting a path that could eventually take him into uncharted territory for Philippine baseball.
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