Kolek looks to carry momentum into 2026 after 4 strong KC starts (1.67 ERA)

KANSAS CITY -- Stephen Kolek has made four starts with the Royals since Aug. 30. All four of them have given the club more reason to envision the 28-year-old right-hander as part of the 2026 rotation and beyond.

Kolek’s latest gem was 7 1/3 innings in the Royals’ 2-0 loss to the Mariners on Thursday afternoon at Kauffman Stadium, as he allowed two runs (one earned) with a career-best eight strikeouts.

The outing lowered Kolek’s ERA to 1.67 in four starts with Kansas City since being acquired from San Diego at the July 31 Trade Deadline.

“Hopefully, it’s a good kind of runway into next year,” Kolek said. “This year’s still going. I’ll at least get another [start], and we’re going to fight to the end. For now, it’s focusing on today, and tomorrow, we’ll worry about tomorrow. As the future goes on, we’ll worry about that whenever it comes.”

Since coming to Kansas City, first in Triple-A and then in the Majors, Kolek has tinkered with his pitch usage, and it showed again against the Mariners. He’s shifted to throwing his four-seam fastball far more often than he did in San Diego. And the last two starts have been all about his changeup. In Kolek’s 14 starts with the Padres, batters were 1-for-15 with a 20.5% whiff rate on his changeup.

Batters have gone just 1-for-20 against Kolek’s changeup with the Royals, with a 29.7% whiff rate. A week ago against Cleveland, Kolek threw his changeup 25.8% of the time; Thursday he threw it 30% of the time as his primary offering against the Mariners. They whiffed five times on 18 swings on the pitch.

“It’s mostly been the quality of location,” Kolek said. “The shape of it, the action of it, has always been pretty good, but figuring out how to get it to be more competitive and more presentable to hitters and just more strikes with it, mainly.”

The unearned run from Kolek came in the eighth inning, when second baseman Michael Massey was called for a shift violation, allowing Dominic Canzone to take first base and pushing Kolek from the game. The run came around to score shortly after on J.P. Crawford’s double off reliever Daniel Lynch IV.

The Royals didn’t lose because of Massey’s error, and they certainly didn’t lose because Kolek allowed two runs instead of zero. At this point in the season, you know the story: The Royals had an excellent outing from their starter, but their offense sputtered. Kansas City logged five hits total on Thursday, left six on base and went 0-for-6 with runners in scoring position.

It’s been the story of the 2025 season, largely the reason the Royals are on the verge of playoff elimination. It could come as soon as Friday night if they lose to the Blue Jays, the Astros win against the Mariners and the Red Sox win against the Rays. In that scenario, the elimination would come down to both Seattle and Boston having the head-to-head tiebreaker over Kansas City, as the Mariners clinched the season series with Thursday’s win and the Red Sox went 4-2 against the Royals.

“It’s been frustrating for a long time,” Massey said. “The pitching staff has been lights out for us all year. Starts with myself not doing my job at the plate. No excuse for it at this point. We’ve got to be better.”

Rotation injuries haven’t helped the Royals this year, but it’s not the reason they’re not going to make the playoffs. Because the depth has stepped up, even with a lack of it in the first half of the season. Noah Cameron emerged as an important homegrown piece of this team, while Kansas City used the Trade Deadline to acquire two starters in Kolek and Ryan Bergert, who was placed on the 15-day injured list on Thursday.

The rotation pieces are there for 2026, and that allows a lot more flexibility to improve the offense this offseason.

“When you look back on the season, and we’re starting to do that now, you start reflecting on, ‘Where do we need to improve?’” general manager J.J. Picollo said earlier this week. “The pitching has been outstanding. I mean, it really has been.

“... I thought the way [manager Matt Quatraro] managed the bullpen, the way [pitching coach Brian Sweeney] has prepped guys, along with the other coaches, they did a really admirable job. There are other things we need to look at and figure out how we can improve and be the baseball team we’re very capable of being.”