Stephen Kolek

BIOGRAPHY

Stephen Kolek was born on  April 18, 1997, in Houston, Texas. He is a pitcher in the MLB.

Kolek attended Shepherd High School. He played college baseball at Texas A&M from 2016 to 2018.

Kolek was drafted by the Los Angeles Dodgers in the 11th round, with the 344th overall selection, of the 2018 Major League Baseball draft. He spent his first professional season with the rookie–level Ogden Raptors and Single–A Great Lakes Loons, accumulating a 1.42 ERA with 30 strikeouts across 17 contests. Kolek returned to Great Lakes in 2019, going 7–8 with a 5.00 ERA and 109 strikeouts in 27 games (25 starts). He did not play in a game in 2020 due to the cancellation of the minor league season because of the COVID-19 pandemic.

On April 28, 2021, Kolek was traded to the Seattle Mariners. He split the year between the Single–A Modesto Nuts, High–A Everett AquaSox, and Double–A Arkansas Travelers. In 24 combined appearances, Kolek struggled to a 6.03 ERA with 67 strikeouts across 59+2⁄3 innings pitched. In 2022, he made 27 starts for Arkansas, registering a 6–13 record and 4.51 ERA with 138 strikeouts across 143+2⁄3 innings of work. In 2023, Kolek made five scoreless appearances for Arkansas before being promoted to the Triple–A Tacoma Rainiers, where he spent the remainder of the year. In 44 appearances for Tacoma, he recorded a 4.23 ERA with 65 strikeouts and 4 saves across 61+2⁄3 innings pitched.

On December 6, 2023, the San Diego Padres selected Kolek from the Mariners in the Rule 5 draft.

His brother is Tyler Kolek, a former professional baseball player and 2nd overall pick by the Miami Marlins in 2014.