Mike Shildt reveals how $760,000 pitcher became Padres' unexpected weapon amid rotation struggles

San Diego Padres manager Mike Shildt has had to expand his pitching rotation this year. They were coming into the 2025 season without Joe Musgrove, who underwent Tommy John surgery last October.

However, since the season began, San Diego has seen three pitchers to the IL. Matt Waldron was placed on the 60-day IL with a left oblique strain, and Yu Darvish is on the 15-day IL with right elbow inflammation. Most recently, they sent Michael King to the 10-day IL with shoulder inflammation as well.

With this many starting pitchers down, Shildt has turned to Stephen Kolek to start games. The skipper has been impressed with the $760,000 pitcher who is holding a 2-1 record with a 2.84 ERA across 25.1 innings of work.

"Winners find solutions and we figured it out and Stephen Kolek has been a solution. He's come out throwing the ball real well. Real power sinker with some other pitches that are real," said Shildt.

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Kolek comes with a six-pitch mix that has been effective this season. His four-seam fastball and sinker are nearly identical at 94 mph. He also throws a hard changeup coming in at 87.5 mph on average with a slider, cutter, and sweeper.

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Kolek's best performance of the season comes from his May 10 start against the Colorado Rockies. He threw a complete game shutout, giving up just five hits while striking out seven batters.

Stephen Kolek is not the only Padres pitcher Mike Shildt sees stepping up

San Diego Padres - Mike Shildt (Photo via IMAGN)

Stephen Kolek has stepped up for this club in a big way. A converted starter, he has found his place in this rotation, putting the Padres in the best position to win games.

However, he is not the only pitcher that Mike Shildt has seen step up this year. Randy Vasquez has been another pitcher who has delivered for the club with multiple starting pitchers on the IL.

"Another guy we feel obligated to mention is Randy Vasquez" said Shildt.

San Diego has won four of Vasquez's last five starts. The only one they did not win was their 14-0 loss to the Toronto Blue Jays earlier this month, and Vasquez was only responsible for two of those runs.

Pitching has been a big part of why the Padres have stayed afloat in the National League West against the Los Angeles Dodgers. Going into Tuesday, San Diego sits just two games behind their division rivals.

About the author

Jared "Bloomy" Bloom is a journalist covering Major League Baseball at Sportskeeda and a former college baseball pitcher from Illinois, who just graduated with a Master's degree in Sport Psychology.

A writer with over 3 years of experience, Jared is consistently more concerned with quality than quantity, thoroughly checking multiple sources of information, and prides himself in being knowledgeable not just about MLB, but the game of baseball in general. He loves breaking down plays and game-changing moments, as well as looking closer into players' statistics.

Jared is a die-hard Chicago White Sox fan, and one of his earliest memories is seeing his great-grandfather, a huge Sox fan, in his rocking chair watching a game. Jared started playing from the age of 5 with his grandfather coaching him early on.

Jared loved Tim Lincecum for his quirky delivery and looked up to him as a role model when playing. His current favorite is Phillies star Bryce Harper, an exciting player who doesn't let injuries hold him back. Jared's favorite sports moment is Mark Buehrle's opening day between-the-legs glove flip to first base in 2010.

When he is not watching or writing about baseball, Jared can be found racing BMX at his local Rockford BMX track or coaching his local youth travel baseball team.

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Edited by Jared "Bloomy" Bloom