ANAHEIM -- With a runner on second and Stephen Kolek in another jam Wednesday night, the righty realized his hands were too high as he came set on the mound, potentially giving the runner a peek into his glove. Kolek lowered his hands a bit and delivered the next pitch.
“Wait a second,” Kolek thought, “that felt right.”
The adjustment allowed Kolek to find the rhythm he felt he lacked in the first four innings of the Royals’ eventual 3-2 loss to the Angels at Angel Stadium. It allowed him to end a wobbly fourth inning, throw a seven-pitch fifth, and get through the sixth to give the Royals another quality start -- what they’ve come to expect out of the 28-year-old, and what he’s come to expect out of himself.
Kolek tossed six innings and allowed three runs (two earned), marking his final start of 2025. All five of Kolek’s starts with Kansas City were quality. The fact that he still logged one Wednesday without his best stuff spoke to the kind of pitcher he’s become and can be for the Royals.
The Angels tagged Kolek with a run in the second, Taylor Ward crushed a home run in the third, and Kolek worked around three defensive errors, including his own in the fifth inning when he threw a ball into center field on what should have been an easy out.
“That’s going to haunt me as I go into the offseason,” Kolek said.
Wednesday night put a bow on Kolek’s season, one that saw him start in Triple-A El Paso with the Padres, make 19 starts with San Diego and then get traded to the Royals at the Trade Deadline with rookie Ryan Bergert. While Bergert joined the team right away, Kolek went to Triple-A for a month.
“I want to thank God for the opportunity that he’s given me this year, starting out in El Paso, to the Padres, to Omaha and here,” Kolek said. “There’s been a lot of great people, a lot of teammates, coaches, training staff, everybody along the way. Pitching development on both sides, everywhere, there’s been a lot of really good input. I feel like I’ve grown a lot as a person, as a pitcher.”
Kolek was needed by the end of August for a spot start and then again a week later. He’s spent all of September in the big leagues, first trying to get the Royals back into the postseason race and now showing what he could do for them in 2026.
Kolek ends ‘25 with a 3.51 ERA overall and a 1.91 ERA with the Royals.
“He should have a lot of confidence,” manager Matt Quatraro said. “… He took advantage of his opportunity and did a great job. There’s a lot to like about what we saw.”
Most of the Royals’ offseason work is going to center around improving their offense, as Wednesday’s two-hit performance was similar to so many the Royals have seen this year. Their core group will return, with Bobby Witt Jr., Vinnie Pasquantino, Maikel Garcia and Salvador Perez anchoring the lineup. But they need another impact bat to deepen the lineup and help the offense take a step forward. Perhaps young hitters Jac Caglianone and Carter Jensen turn into that -- and both have the ceiling to do so -- but the Royals would prefer to go into 2026 without them needing to be that bat.
How Kansas City’s front office goes about finding more offense remains to be seen. A trade seems likely, and that’s where the pitchers come in again.
The Royals won’t be afraid to use their starting pitching depth to trade for a bat. Cole Ragans, Seth Lugo and Michael Wacha figure to anchor the front of the 2026 rotation. Kolek, Kris Bubic, Noah Cameron, Ryan Bergert, Luinder Avila and Bailey Falter could all enter spring as rotation candidates. Alec Marsh and Kyle Wright are also on the roster, but are questionable because of health.
Other teams will certainly have interest in that group, especially in Bubic, Cameron, Kolek and Bergert. So the Royals will have to decide who they’re willing to part with and for whom.
Those decisions will come this winter. For now, the Royals want to finish ‘25 strong. In that regard, Wednesday’s loss was disappointing, moving them back to .500 (79-79). But it was hard to be disappointed with what Kolek battled through and gave Kansas City again.
“Hopefully, we can get some quality starts and give ourselves a chance to win every time I go out there,” Kolek said of what he’s shown this year.