Camille Naredo

Aiden Lazaro at the IMG Academy. Handout photo

Article (news)

BASEBALL

Paige Javier

ABS-CBN News

<div><img src="https://od2-image-api.abs-cbn.com/prod/editorImage/1786264082755Aiden Lazaro with coaches at IMG Academy.jpeg" style="width:960px;display:block;height:auto" class="fr-fic fr-dib" width="960" alt="Aiden Lazaro with his coaches at IMG Academy. Handout photo"/>Aiden Lazaro with his coaches at IMG Academy. Photo courtesy of Shelly Lazaro</div>MANILA – Eight years since he first picked up a baseball bat, 13-year-old Aiden Lazaro has taken a huge swing toward his dream to make it to the Major Leagues. The young baseball star recently became the first homegrown Filipino to be admitted into the IMG Academy, a prestigious institution in the United States known for developing athletes into elite competitors in various sports. &quot;I think it&#x27;s pretty wild that I am the first, but mainly I don&#x27;t let any of the pressure or expectations get to me that much. I just imagine that I&#x27;m just training normally and to just play my game,&quot; he told ABS-CBN News in an interview on Saturday. &quot;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 [Major League Baseball], play professionally,&quot; Lazaro added. The 13-year-old baseball star from Ateneo de Manila junior high school aims to break new ground in the MLB, which has yet to see a homegrown player from the Philippines. The closest would be Claudio Manela from Cavite who saw action with the Cincinnati Cuban Stars in the Negro League in the 1920s, a league recognized by the MLB. Oakland Athletics pitcher Bobby Chouinard is also known as the first player born in Manila to play in the MLB since its integration in 1947. There are also several MLB players of Filipino descent, most notably New York Yankees shortstop Anthony Volpe. <div><a class="fr-green fr-strong" href="https://www.abs-cbn.com/sports/othersports/2025/12/30/fil-am-yankees-player-anthony-volpe-holds-youth-baseball-camp-in-ph-1623">READ: Fil-Am Yankees player Anthony Volpe holds youth baseball camp in PH</a></div>Last month, Lazaro completed the first phase of the holistic athletic development plan under IMG Academy&#x27;s baseball program, which has produced MLB standouts James Wood and Chris Perez.  A taste of higher-level baseball and exposure to state-of-the-art training methods has fueled Lazaro&#x27;s ambition.  &quot;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. And I also loved that I was in a new training environment where I could play with people of my skill level and even higher,&quot; Lazaro said. &quot;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,&quot; he added. Even if he&#x27;s away from home, Lazaro wears his Filipino pride proudly while carrying the distinction as the first homegrown player in the academy. &quot;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&#x27;ve played for in the Philippines,&quot; he said. &quot;I think that&#x27;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,&quot; Lazaro added. <div> </div><div>LOVE AT FIRST BAT</div>Lazaro&#x27;s journey in baseball started when he was five years old, when he tried out the sport for the first time after seeing a poster in Ateneo. Since then, Lazaro has caught the attention of the local baseball community for his skills, humility and kindness both on and off the field. The 13-year-old was the only Grade 7 student that made it to the Ateneo UAAP junior&#x27;s baseball team and won the most Runs Batted In (RBIs) when he represented the Philippines in the 2024 U-12 Asian Baseball Championship in Japan.  Last year, Lazaro helped lead the National Capital Region to the Palarong Pambansa gold in Ilocos Norte. <div><a class="fr-green fr-strong" href="https://www.abs-cbn.com/sports/othersports/2026/7/26/psc-eyes-completion-of-rizal-baseball-stadium-facelift-in-100-days-1559">READ: PSC eyes completion of Rizal baseball stadium &#x27;facelift&#x27; in 100 days</a></div>&quot;We just went and then it started it all for him. So maybe he really has an innate talent in baseball. But I&#x27;d say more than the innate skills, it&#x27;s really his determination, his passion and heart. So it&#x27;s nice to see because I&#x27;ve been really with him since day one and I&#x27;ve seen his evolution,&quot; Aiden&#x27;s mom Shelly said. Lazaro can play various positions on the field, but he finds being a catcher that most fulfilling since he gets to interact with all the players. <div> </div><div>SWINGING FOR THE STARS</div><div><img src="https://od2-image-api.abs-cbn.com/prod/editorImage/1786264486777c7e036f1-2c18-4bef-b584-72ae3e616f4b.jpg" style="width:960px" class="fr-fic fr-dib" width="960" alt="Aiden Lazaro with his mother, Shelly. Photo courtesy of Shelly Lazaro"/>Aiden Lazaro with his mother, Shelly. Photo courtesy of Shelly Lazaro</div>Behind every rising athlete is a strong support system. For Aiden, it&#x27;s his mother, who has been with him from his early days in Manila to his training in Florida. &quot;I think it&#x27;s really nice that I have, that my parents, especially my mom, are there to support me with whatever I want to take as my career choice,&quot; he said. Even though local coaches have been praising Aiden for his skill level, which they described as &#x27;advanced for his age,&#x27; Shelly made sure to keep Aiden grounded and be realistic with their expectations. &quot;I&#x27;ve always been proud of Aiden, kahit dati pa, even prior to this IMG opportunity. In fact, before we left talaga, I was managing expectations. I mean, he&#x27;s advanced for his age here. All the coaches would tell me that. But inisip ko, when we get there, it&#x27;s different na. It&#x27;s American standards,&quot; she said. But after seeing her son quickly adapting and hearing the same positive feedback from IMG Academy coaches, Shelly knows Aiden is on the right track. &quot;I know in my mind and my heart that it&#x27;s a long shot. I mean, it&#x27;s hard to get into the MLB. Tapos Filipino pa. Wala pang hundred percent Filipino who has made it there. So before we left, ganun, I was thinking, okay, it&#x27;s a long shot, but it is a good opportunity,&quot; she said. &quot;I was taking that opportunity that time as a tool or venue for him to get better pa. But when I was there and hearing all these coaches telling him how good he is and how he has a very strong potential... I was like, oh, so it&#x27;s not a long shot anymore. Parang, now I can see the pathway,&quot; Shelly added. Having watched elite Filipino athletes like tennis star Alex Eala and Olympic pole vaulter EJ Obiena leave home in pursuit of their dreams, Shelly understands what it takes for Aiden to reach the highest level.  <div><a class="fr-green fr-strong" href="https://www.abs-cbn.com/sports/othersports/2026/8/8/alex-eala-reflects-on-amazing-feeling-of-playing-in-front-of-pinoys-in-toronto-1329">READ: Alex Eala reflects on &#x27;amazing&#x27; feeling of playing in front of Pinoys in Toronto</a></div>She knows her son needs support and access to world-class training to turn his ambitions into reality. &quot;It&#x27;s going to be a big adjustment when the time comes. But I think, because as a mom, that&#x27;s always my dream for him. My dream for him is for him to be able to go, whatever the desires of his heart, whatever his passion is,&quot; Shelly said. &quot;I&#x27;m also not delusional. I mean, even if I know that people are telling me he has potential, for me my goal for him, as one of his biggest support system, my commitment to him is I want to take him to the farthest realistically that his skills and potential can take him, wherever that is,&quot; she explained. <div> </div><div>STEPPING UP TO THE PLATE<img src="https://od2-image-api.abs-cbn.com/prod/editorImage/1786264144296Aiden Lazaro at IMG Academy.jpeg" style="width:960px;display:block;height:auto" class="fr-fic fr-dib" width="960" alt="Aiden Lazaro at the IMG Academy. Handout photo"/>Aiden Lazaro at the IMG Academy. Photo courtesy of Shelly Lazaro</div>With a clearer understanding of what it takes to compete at an elite level, Lazaro is more determined to chase his dreams and see how far it will take him. Shelly&#x27;s optimism for her son&#x27;s future is further driven by Aiden&#x27;s maturity at his age and his laser-like focus on his ambitions will be key to his success. &quot;For me, I think the main thing is I really, since I was young, I really wanted to play professionally as I saw so many athletes achieving. And whenever I was watching TV, I always watched the NBA, FIFA or even MLB. And I really wanted to be on that level,&quot; Lazaro said. &quot;I think it&#x27;s from all the trainings I&#x27;ve done with multiple teams, coaches, teammates and players that I&#x27;ve learned that it&#x27;s important to go along with everyone and to work together as a team,&quot; he responded when asked about his maturity and independence. On his return home, Lazaro will continue his studies as a Grade 8 student at the Ateneo junior high school with the new academic year set to begin this month.  Despite being away from the IMG Academy, the work continues for Lazaro who will be training under a hybrid set-up where he regularly updates his coaches. &quot;This year, for me, I&#x27;m just expecting to train harder, be more disciplined and hopefully play at a higher level,&quot; Lazaro said. &quot;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. So even if you face mistakes or problems, always keep pushing and find joy and love in the sport,&quot; he also said.

Eight years since he first picked up a baseball bat, 13-year-old Aiden Lazaro has taken a huge swing toward his dream to make it to the Major Leagues.

Eight years since he first picked up a baseball bat, 13-year-old Aiden Lazaro has taken a huge swing toward his dream to make it to the Major Leagues.

Pinoy teenager steps up to the plate for a shot at Major Leagues

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Pinoy teenager steps up to the plate for a shot at Major Leagues

Paige Javier,

ABS-CBN News

Published August 09, 2026 08:30 PM PHT

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Baseball

Aiden Lazaro

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