History lesson: Kolarek’s ties to A’s are decades old
MESA, Ariz. — Two weeks ago, reliever Adam Kolarek called his father, Frank, with news: The defending champion Dodgers had just traded him to the A’s.
“I could feel his smile through the phone,” Frank Kolarek said.
For the Kolareks, the A’s already held meaning. Well before Adam emerged as a sinkerslinging lefthander, Frank was a catcher in the A’s minorleague system. He played four seasons, from 197679, reaching TripleA. His teammates included longtime A’s farm director Keith Lieppman — in fact, Frank said, the two were roommates and he later coached under Lieppman in Aball.
Sometime after, Frank said, Lieppman gave him a greenandgold A’s bag, the kind players use for equipment. That became the bag Adam carried to Little League games, even growing up an Orioles fan near Baltimore. They toted the bag around so much “it literally disintegrated,” Frank said. That history loomed two weeks ago when Adam called about the trade.
“You almost kind of laughed,” Adam Kolarek said, “because it was like, man, this is too good to be true.”
The A’s, too, were pleased to add Kolarek in a move that preceded signing righthanded relievers Sergio Romo, Yusmeiro Petit and Trevor Rosenthal. Lefthanded hitters own a .176 average and .465 OPS against Kolarek, 32, in his 143 bigleague appearances. In 46 games with the Dodgers the past two years, he posted a 0.88 ERA in 302⁄3 innings.
“He’s a guy that can get righthanders out, he’s good at keeping his fastball down and getting grounders,” A’s pitching coach Scott Emerson said. “So the threebatter minimum (rule), with him it doesn’t really make a difference.”
“He’s going to be a nice little toy to have down in that bullpen,” manager Bob Melvin said.
An 11thround pick by the Mets in 2010, Kolarek in 2015 while in DoubleA opted to lower his release from threequarters to a sidearm angle, seeking more movement on his pitches. Tampa Bay selected him in the Rule 5 draft and he debuted in 2017, at age 28, compiling a 4.19 ERA in 97 games for the Rays, who traded him to the Dodgers in July 2019.
Kolarek used his primary pitch, a sinker, to extremes the past two seasons. He threw it 71.3% of the time in 2019 and 79.8% in 2020, per Baseball Savant. Opponents slugged .218 against it last season with a 63.6% groundball rate. His four playoff outings the past two postseasons weren’t as sharp — five runs and a home run allowed in 31⁄3 innings.
“I think the last two years I’ve really just trusted that if I give up a hit with a sinker it’s just going to be a single,” Kolarek said. “Whereas if I try to do too much and throw a bunch of changeups or sliders, those are the balls that if you don’t execute will be driven into the gaps — or worse.”
Kolarek said the Rays and Dodgers were also similar in their ability to make analytic data “userfriendly for the pitcher. … It’s almost like you already have the answers and it’s more identifying the question that you’re facing.” He said the A’s bullpen, after its recent moves, reminds him of Tampa Bay’s in that: “I think anyone would feel comfortable in no matter what inning.”
Frank Kolarek scouted for the Brewers and Orioles — which gives him a unique view on Adam. (Frank also founded a nonprofit organization called League of Dreams that provides baseball and softball programs to people with physical or mental disabilities; Adam often helps out).
“He’s able to not just talk to me as a son with encouragement and help me through the tough times but also talk the baseball side that I think only a player can truly relate to,” Adam said.
Signed by scout Syd Thrift, Frank reported to A’s spring training in Mesa — where Adam is now — and made the ClassA Modesto team in 1976. His number, 21, is the number Adam was assigned by the A’s posttrade. Since then, Frank said, messages have streamed in from old friends along the lines of: “Finally, a Kolarek in the big leagues with the A’s.”
He doesn’t mind. He knows what they’re really saying.
“You just don’t know the kind of twists and turns life will take,” Frank said. “But baseball really mimics life. You just never know what’s next.”