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STEPHEN KOLEK
- Position(s): Right-handed pitcher
- Bats / Throws: Right / Right
- 2024 opening day age: 27
- Height / Weight: 6-foot-3 / 210 pounds
- How acquired: Rule 5 draft in December 2023 (Mariners)
- Contract status: Earned $740,000 in 2024; will not be arbitration-eligible until 2027.
- fWAR in 2024: 0.3
- Key 2024 stats: 3-0, 5.21 ERA, 0 saves, 2 holds, 39 strikeouts, 12 walks, 1.52 WHIP, .303 opponent average, 46⅔ innings (42 games)
STAT TO NOTE
- 56.4 — Kolek’s groundball rate in 2024, 10 points better than the league average. Kolek threw his sinker 40.5 percent of the time while making his MLB debut, but he allowed a .315 batting average off that pitch, compared to hitters having a .200 average against his four-seamer (13.2 percent).
TRENDING
- Down — The brother of former Marlins first-rounder Tyler Kolek, the younger Kolek was drafted by the Dodgers in the 11th round in 2018, purchased by the Mariners for $1 (yes, one dollar) and had plateaued as a starting pitching prospect when a move to the bullpen saw a bump in his stuff. He had a 3.76 ERA in his first year as a reliever in the minors when the Padres selected him in the Rule 5 draft last December. It was the second year in a row in which the Padres took a pitcher as a contender (Jose Lopez was offered back to Tampa Bay the previous year) and Kolek earned his spot on the opening day roster with a seven strikeouts over 6⅔ scoreless innings in Cactus League action. The ensuing four months proved to be an up-and-down affair as you’d expect from a rookie that had to be kept on the active roster. Kolek had a 3.45 ERA in the first month of the season and an 0.68 ERA in June, but also an 11.70 ERA in May and an 8.22 ERA July, when a forearm injury — right after the Padres boosted their bullpen with the additions of Tanner Scott, Jason Adam and Bryan Hoeing — ultimately ended his season.
2025 OUTLOOK
- The injury meant the Padres could stash him on the injured list instead of having to offer him back to the Mariners last summer. Because he technically survived the season on the big-league roster , as mandated by Rule 5 rules, the Padres will have the ability to option Kolek to and from Triple-A El Paso in 2025 as they manage the bullpen. He’ll compete for a middle-relief job in spring training.
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Roster rankings
- 31. RHP Juan Nuñez
- 32. C Brett Sullivan
- 33. UT Tyler Wade
- 34. LHP Wandy Peralta
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