Stephen Kolek #32

Married the former Jessica Ziegler in the offseason leading up to the 2024 campaign in Montgomery, Texas...Parents are James and Brenda Kolek...Has one older brother, Tyler, who was the second overall pick by the Miami Marlins in the 2014 First-Year Player Draft...Spent three seasons at Texas A&M University prior to being drafted by LAD in the 11th-round of the 2018 Draft...made 44 appearances for Texas A&M (33 starts) and posted a 12-11 record with a 4.03 ERA, 162 strikeouts in 199 innings...was an agribusiness major at Texas A&M...Graduated from Shephed (Texas) High School in 2015, and he earned All-District 23-4A First Team accolades as a senior...Enjoys fishing, hunting and playing golf.

2024

At the time of his final outing of the season on July 30, his 42 appearances T-3rd most in SD’s pen with Robert Suarez, trailing only Yuki Matsui (48) and Enyel De Los Santos (42)...Allowed two ER in both of his first two ML outings…earned his first of two holds in his MLB debut on March 21 @ LAD in the Seoul Series in Seoul, South Korea…his other hold came in his 6th outing on April 7 @ SF...Following his first two big league outings, went scoreless in 14 of his next 17 outings from March 30-May 11 (1.50 ERA, 1.22 WHIP, .235 AVG)...Allowed just allowed one ER across 13 app from June 8-July 9, going 3-0 with a 0.52 ERA (1 ER, 17.1 IP), 0.98 WHIP, .215 opp. AVG and a 17-to-3 SO/BB ratio...Notched his first MLB win on June 21 vs. MIL, his first of three winning decisions over a six-outing span from June 21-July 5...Placed on the 15-day IL on July 31 with right forearm tendinitis and was transferred to the 60-day IL Sept. 1...Allowed just six barrels on the season and led all SD pitchers in barrel rate (3.8% - 96th percentile) and ground ball percentage (56.4% - 94th percentile)...Went scoreless in six of the seven outings he tossed two IP (0.64 ERA, 0.86 WHIP and .200 opp. AVG)...Walked just 12 of his 211 batters faced for a 2.3 BB/9 IP ratio that trailed only Robert Suarez (2.2 BB/9) in the SD pen...Allowed just two XBH (2 2B) to LHH (.271 AVG) while RHH batted .327 w/ 11 XBH (7 2B, 4 HR)...Once he had hitters in two-strike counts, they slashed .194/.262/.325 with 4 XBH (4 2B)...Per Statcast, relied on six pitches: sinker (40.5%), cutter (19.3%), four-seamer (13.2%), sweeper (10.4%), slider (9.7%) and changeup (6.9%).

2023

Began the season with Double-A Arkansas before being promoted to Triple-A Tacoma, where he spent the majority of the season, pitching to a 4-2 record and a 4.23 ERA (29 ER, 61.2 IP) in 44 appearances (one start) with a .224 opponent batting average. Made five scoreless appearances with Double-A Arkansas, going 2-0 and holding opposing batters to a .042 clip with a 0.39 WHIP before being promoted to TAC on April 27. Between the Double-A and Triple-A levels, he went 6-2 with a 3.76 ERA and .206 opponent average, and his 49 total appearances set a career high in a season. Allowed just three home runs in 61.2 innings pitched for Tacoma. His 44 appearances for TAC ranked third on the club, and his 49 between TAC and ARK set a new high in a single season. In the first half of the season at the Triple-A level, he went 2-2 with a 9.64 ERA (25 ER, 23.1 IP), 1.97 WHIP, and .316 opponent batting average in 15 appearances ... in 29 appearances in the season's second half, he went 2-0 with a 0.94 ERA (4 ER, 38.1 IP), 0.91 WHIP, and .154 opponents' average. Had reverse splits with TAC, holding left-handed batters to a .205 opponent clip and a .234 opponent average to righthanded batters.

2022

Spent the entire 2022 season with Double-A Arkansas, appearing in 27 games (all starts) and going 6-13 with a 4.51 ERA (72 ER, 143.2 IP), setting career highs in strikeouts (138) and innings pitched...Allowed 10 home runs, his first-career season allowing double-digit homers...Walked a career-high 66 batters in 636 batters faced but also logged a career-high 138 strikeouts.